The Art of Misconduct
by juniordancer07
Summary: Post-Avengers: After Loki is rejected from his homeland, Asgard, he is barred from the outside world and thrown inside a cell deep within the prison room in S.H.I.E.L.D HQ. A darkness grows inside of him as his hatred towards his father grows stronger each day. But will a light be found in the void of his soul once he meets Spira, a young girl who has a talent for dissecting minds?
1. Chapter 1

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters included in this story or rights to any of the movies, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me.********

I know some of you were asking why I deleted my story at first, well I wanted to develop the beginning a bit more before moving on to starting the sub plot, but now I am officially starting the story, and new chapters should be rolling in quite quickly, since it's summer and all. Suggestions for future chapters and comments are HIGHLY encouraged. (:

**Chapter 1**

Loki sat within the confines of his prison, shut out from the world around him, shielded by unbreakable glass and shunned by almost every living being that knew of his misdoings.

**XXXXX**

_His plan on Earth had failed, and as he made his way to return to Asgard with his brother, Loki hung his head, burdened with the disgust and hatred pointed towards him by the people of Midgard and their mighty defenders, the Avengers. How close he had come to destroying the pitiful human race that inhabited the small planet. How close he had come to proving himself to his father, his brother, the people of Asgard, and all who looked down upon him. But he had been defeated, his pride and power snatched away from him once again by all that is good. Loki clenched his fists in anger as he was led away from the group of heroes who now stood behind him like a glorious monument. _

_The weight of their gazes pierced through the God of Mischief, making him clench his jaw and grind his teeth back and forth like stone on stone. As they approached Stark Tower, Loki envisioned exactly what his return home would bring. He could almost feel the daggers of the people of Asgards' eyes slicing through him with each step he took towards his father. He could hear the sneers and hisses that would come from the crowd that would gather to watch Loki be sentenced. That is- if he was even given a fair trial. Who's to say he wouldn't be executed on the spot once he returned to Asgard through the Bifrost?_

_Thor placed his hand on Loki's shoulder as the two brothers headed up the elevator and up to the launch pad resting on the top balcony of Stark Tower. The gag that was forcefully strapped over Loki's mouth was still held in place, preventing any powers of speech to be uttered from his mouth. Loki felt like a dog, muzzled by those wretched humans who placed themselves above everyone in the universe. Their kind disgusted Loki, he recoiled at their beliefs and how they thought they were the superior race. Trying to cage a god was an insolent action on their part, and Loki vowed that he would make them pay once he got the opportunity. A devious plan was already enfolding inside his mind, a wicked smirk crossing his lips under the gag._

"_Heimdall," Thor spoke towards the sky, "Open the Bifrost, and lead us home." _

_ The sky thundered and turned a sickly grey color as the clouds above swirled into darkness. Thor held the Tesseract in one hand, and motioned for Loki to grab the other end of it. The pulsating neon-blue color that illuminated off of the rectangular object glowed brighter, signaling the build-up of energy coming from inside the galactic object._

_Loki prepared for the trip back to his home planet, where he was undoubtedly going to be hated and most likely banished to another world, to another time. The clouds continued to swirl, but no beam of light appeared to carry them home, no bridge, no nothing._

_ "Heimdall," Thor repeated, panic noticeably rising in his voice, "Bring us home."_

_ Back in Asgard, Heimdall sat facing the void of space, his face plastered into an expressionless stone, but his eyes spoke of a different emotion. Sadness danced behind his dark eyes as he heard Thor calling to open up the bridge. He could do nothing if Loki intended to travel home with Thor. Odin had given him specific orders to only allow Thor to return home from his victory, but to leave Loki behind, as punishment for his second attempt at destroying an entire race._

_ "He will understand soon enough," Odin said as he approached the strong Gate Keeper, "But I cannot allow Loki to return home until he has changed his ways. His arrival poses a threat to Asgard, and I will not allow our people to be put in danger."_

_ "I understand." Heimdall said in a monotone voice, keeping his statuesque posture. _

_ "But I so do miss my son," Odin replied quietly, "Hopefully Loki will learn a lesson as Thor did during his banishment. He has a heart, but he has yet to keep it beating." Heimdall nodded his head in agreement._

_ Odin put his hand on Heimdall's shoulder before turning to walk back to Asgard._

**XXXXX**

Loki slammed his fist against the floor of his cell, roaring in anguish as he remembered the fateful trip that led him back to this cage.

Thor had eventually figured it out, and had returned home where the people of Asgard most likely bowed at his feet and worshiped him and his victory. It was more of punishment, Loki concluded, to not even be allowed to return home than to stand a trial in the presence of his father. It was like his father loathed him to the point where he didn't even want to give Loki the time to be able to have a fair trial. The ex-prince felt a hot rush of anger boil up, his insides on fire from the sudden change of emotion.

"That should be me." Loki mumbled, "That should be me!"

Loki hated his father for leaving him here in Midgard, to remain in the presence of the humans who ruined his plans, who stripped him of his honor, and then threw him in the same type of cell he had already been caged in before his plans went amiss.

His anger drove him to wanting to smell that hot and metallic scent of blood once again, convincing him that bloodshed would be the only way to cease his fiery temper.

"_No_," Loki's more sane side of his mind thought, "_No more lives taken by my hand_."

"_But how good it feels to have your hands coiled around someone's throat, feeling their pulse race beneath your fingertips._" Hissed the devil on his shoulder. As the god of mischief it was a curse to have these two sides gnawing at your conscience, constantly; the devil always being the louder of the two. Loki knew humans encountered this internal battle, but to Loki, it was much more severe and like a poisonous disease eating at his mind.

"_One of the benefits of being the God of Mischief._" Loki thought sarcastically.

It had been a week since Loki was forced to return to the confines of a cell, and rejected from his homeland. The anger that fueled his daily life had risen to a darkness of unspeakable measure creating the beginnings of a black hole which lay where his heart once stood. Any good that remained inside of him was now extinguished by the ice that grew colder and colder within him with each passing minute.

Loki's despair was temporarily broken by a loud pounding on the glass. The ex-prince turned his head to see a bulky security guard grinning deviously at him. It was Boar, Phil Coulson's temporary replacement. Boar was little more than a meat-headed agent who was by chance, pretty intelligent. Of course, Fury despised him, but the council insisted that since Loki was so dangerous, a man of Boar's size was a necessity until a more suitable agent could be found to replace Agent Coulson.

"Dinner, maggot." Grunted Boar, shoving Loki's dinner into a capsule which delivered food and other necessary objects to Loki via one-way tunnel. Agents and staff members could bring Loki food, water, and other things, but Loki could not access the small tunnel from the inside.

The electronic hatch opened, presenting Loki with a plate that was comprised up mysterious goop substance, along with a container of water.

Loki simply turned his head away from the abhorrent food, and looked up at the ceiling, remembering how he used to dine like a king. Well-at one point he did dine as a king. None of the meals given to him were substantial, and had a repulsive texture that made Loki want to regurgitate, defeating the purpose of eating the meal at all. Before Loki was placed inside the cell, he put a satiation spell on himself that would ensure he could go without food for a few days, in case he was to escape from the cell and assume the role of a fugitive. Along with the internal workings of being a god, Loki could go without food for a maximum of a week. _Maximum._

His spell had come in handy for another use though the hex was almost completely gone. Loki would have to either force down the food given to him, or die of starvation. Neither seemed very appetizing.

Boar left the room in a fit of laughter, mocking Loki's expression of disgust before slamming the lead door shut.

Loki stayed awake most of the night, toying with a new trick he had learned. It wasn't a world ending trick by any means, but it entertained him none the less. A small green flame danced in the palm of his hand, barely smoldering in the darkness. A little grin quirked at the corner of his lips as he played with the flame, trying to make it grow larger and more powerful.

A small pitter patter sounded a few feet away from Loki's cell, and the small flame immediately extinguished, hiding his face from any unwanted guests.

"So, you're Loki?" A little voice said, outside of glass wall. Loki remained silent, waiting for the voice to speak again, "Not going to talk? That's fine; I'm used to people ignoring me." The voice laughed a bit before falling silent again. A small _bang_ emitted from outside the cell, followed by a dim light that illuminated the inside of Loki's cell.

Loki squinted his eyes, adjusting to light; even though it was not particularly bright, the darkness had rendered him almost blind for the past few hours.

Once the Asgardian's eyes adjusted, the light revealed a girl, no older than seventeen standing outside the glass with one hand on the control panel beside his cell. The two looked at each other, not uttering a sound.

"_Why is a young girl in here?_" Thought Loki.

"Hi." Said the girl, a she made her way over to the glass. Loki still remained silent, trying to analyze the girl and see what she was up to.

"Stop that." She said, sitting down, cross legged in front of the glass, "You don't need to try to see what my motives are, no one sent me here."

The girl now eyed Loki, trying to see what he was thinking, watching the way his eyes moved over her, clearly defying her orders.

"Well you can't just tell me to stop analyzing you, and then you do it to me." Loki said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Finally, I thought you'd never start talking." The girl perked, a smile spreading across her face.

"Who exactly are you, and why are you bothering me with your immature presence?' Loki spat at her, clenching his teeth.

"Ugh _please_" The girl replied, "Intimidation does not work on me. I'm Spira."

"Well _Spira_," Loki began, walking towards her, "How about I break out of this cage, rip your pretty little brain out of your head, and replace it with mine, so you're reduced to nothing more than a mindless zombie?"

"I can see you're not going to be very nice to be for a while, are you?" Spira said, completely unfazed by Loki's threat, "Very well, I guess I'll just talk until you decide to play nicely."

Loki kept his eyes on Spira as she went to grab a chair, a pulled it up towards the glass, "Me and you aren't so different Loki. We have a talent, we read people. That's what we do. We manipulate them because we're so good at predicting their actions. Now I _technically_ don't have any real superpowers, or have been revealed to too much gamma radiation like Green Bean over there," she pointed to where Dr. Banner smashed through a wall the previous night, "But I can predict anyone's moves, kind of like mind reading. I'm not weak like most humans that tremble at a ferocious threat, or a rude remark-"

"You and I are nothing alike." Loki said sternly, his voice echoing within the cell. He didn't like this human, or whatever she was. She was infuriatingly confident, and treated him like a commoner. Who was she to treat a God, who could easily snap her neck like a twig, as such?

Spira held Loki's gaze for awhile, digging around in his brain for a weak spot. She came across flashbacks of two children, a dark blonde and a black haired one, standing before an elder being with an eye patch, which radiated of feelings of nostalgia. But she also came across a particular scene in his mind where he was much older and standing before the eye-patched being, yelling something which she could not quite make out. She felt so many strong emotions like hurt, sorrow, pain, anger, betrayal, loneliness and so many others, that she had to retreat from prying open his mind.

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, deciding how she should go about this conversation.

"You have sad eyes, Loki." Spira said finally.

"Excuse me?" Loki replied, narrowing his eyes once more.

"What made your eyes so sad? Oh wait-hold on-" Spira stood up and walked to the glass, and looked Loki over for a few seconds before speaking again, "Judging on your stance you are someone who strives for dominance, but the way your head is slightly bowed means you are used to being overtaken by an authority figure. Your tone of voice also indicates you have been stabbed in the back way too many times, and that you are broken down somewhere in there, "She pointed to the middle of Loki's chest, "And that a great darkness is growing inside of you out of hatred and because of a grudge you hold towards a few people. So all in all, it sounds like you have some family issues." She left out the part about what she saw in her mind, but pieced all of her evidence together and came to the conclusion that something definitely went wrong within his family.

"I do not have-"

"Ohhh yes you do." Spira corrected, before he could choke out the last bit of his sentence.

"Now, I can stop invading your personal matters, and you can be nice to me, or I can dig even deeper and have an…"emotional" therapy session with you." A smirk played across Spira's lips as she made her offer.

Loki stayed silent again, waiting for her to complete the rest of her offer, since she was leaving something out, "And I'll start bringing you some decent food if you agree to be good." She said, after she saw that Loki wasn't pleased with her offer.

"Much better." He replied.

Spira let out a small laugh as she made her way over to the control panel to shut off the lights, "See you tomorrow night, Loki."


	2. Chapter 2

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters included in this story or rights to any of the movies, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me.********

Yay, second chapter!(: This one is a bit shorter, more of a developer-type chapter. I wanted to get these two chapters in that I re-edited before I start up a fresh one. The rating may go up later for language and violence…I'm thinking like one more chapter before I start diving into the plot, so far it's mostly been introductions and Loki going crazy…Please feel free to comment, I need some inspiration! Oh, and if I made any mistakes, lemme know, because if you couldn't tell, I have major writing-OCD. ._.

****

Chapter 2

The next day, Loki awoke later than usual, and with an awful head ache. It felt as though his head was being simultaneously crushed between two boulders. The light bothered his eyes terribly, and any subtle sound that reverberated through the room his cell was in made him wince. He held his head in his hands for a while, trying to sooth the pain.

He thought about the strange girl, Spira, who had visited his cell the night before. She was rather young to be in such a high-security atmosphere…how did she end up in S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters' cell room? The only way in or out was through the lead door that was impenetrable by even the most powerful bomb. Loki emitted a small huff of laughter as he remembered that fight he had put up once they brought him into this room. That door had seen better days…

She was quite the annoying little pest, reaching down inside Loki's mind. He felt somewhat violated, even though her visit was quite brief. He wondered if that's how people felt when he tried to analyze them. Granted, his primary power was not mind-reading or evaluating people, but he knew he was rather good at it, but Spira had a talent at it, he had to admit. She would be wonderful minion and assistant to him, if only he could get his hands on his scepter, he could manipulate her power at his own hand.

"Visitor!" Boar said loudly, banging the lead door open. Loki pressed his hands to his head again, groaning in agony.

"_Who the hell is bothering me?_"

"Brother," a familiar voice boomed, "I have come to bring you news of Asgard."

"Not so loud!" Loki hissed, "I have a terrible headache, what do you want?" Loki never looked up to acknowledge Thor, fearing that his glinting armor would further irritate the pain behind his eyes.

Thor spoke more softly this time, trying to keep his brother from wincing once more, "You're banishment here on Earth is temporary brother. Our father sent me here to inform you of that. He was in a great despair once I returned to Asgard. He spoke of why you were not allowed entry through the Bifrost." Thor was pacing the floor his red cape dancing around with his every movement, "If you can learn a lesson, as I did when I was banished here on Midgard, he will allow you to return and restore your honor. You will be able to reclaim your rightful place by my side, as my brother."

Thor was smiling a sad sort of smile, hopeful that Loki would someday be able to return to Asgard with him. He missed his brother, and even though Loki had taken the lives of countless people, he was still his brother, and Thor would always love him.

"Well father speaks in false hopes and pitiful dreams. I have no intention of becoming as good and 'worthy' as you," Loki's dark rage was now boiling up to the surface and he spoke through gritted teeth, "I would rather rot in this cell than return to Asgard and stand in the presence of that loathsome man who refused to grant me rights to a fair trial. Who couldn't even confront me and 'enlighten' me that he no longer has time for his adopted son." Loki spat out those last two words like acid.

"Brother please, I know that darkness has not completely overtaken you-"

"Then you are wrong!" Loki yelled, his voice echoing all around the two brothers.

Thor stood a few inches away from the glass, his expression full of hurt and sadness for his brother who was now blinded by the void that grew inside him. "I am sorry, brother. I only wish to see you back home, happy, and not filled with such poisonous rage." The soon-to-be king wished so badly that his brother could see through the darkness that was overtaking him. The curious glint in the green-eyed prince's gaze was now changing into something much more sinister, making the God of Thunder's sadness grow deeper. Finally, Thor put his hand up to the glass before leaving his brother.

Loki fell into a fit of rage after Thor left, as he screamed and pounded his fists against the glass, cursing at the sky over and over, hoping his wretched father would hear his cries of agony. His palms began to bleed from him clenching his fists so tightly that his nails dug into the skin. The white-skinned knuckles on his hand were smeared with blood from punching the glass, splitting even more between each punch.

"You've taken everything from me, father!" Loki screamed at the heavens, "Everything!"

Loki formed little beams of light in his hand, and threw them at the walls of the cell, leaving scorch marks where they seared the impenetrable steel and Plexiglas that barricaded him inside. Over and over the gleaming balls of energy launched themselves at the wall of Loki's cell, over and over the stained the inside of it with their charcoal residue. How long would his wings be tied up, how long must he endure being held inside a cage? He would rather face the wrath of Thanos a million times over than be stuck inside this prison any longer.

The ex-prince slid down the wall beside his bed and curled his knees into his chest, trying to keep the rest of his composure. He put his head between his knees, where he continued to shout and curse his father for the remainder of the night. Since he was no longer able to channel his rage through "different" means, Loki didn't realize that he was now turning that rage on himself, and inflicting self-harm not only physically, but mentally. His powers were limited, probably the doings of the "Great and Mighty Odin." Loki scoffed at the man's name, disgusted by the label given to him by the Asgardians.

"_And what of me?_" Loki thought, "_Shall they label me the 'Pitiful and Weak-Minded Loki, Failure to Asgard'?_"

After a few more fits, and many more knuckle-splitting punches, Loki drained himself of his remaining energy, and fell into darkness.

Behind his dreamless sleep, Loki heard a soft whirring, which quickly snapped him out of his sleep. The small tunnel that fed food through opened its hatch to reveal a plate filled with recognizable contents.

Loki's eyes lit up at the sight of real food, but the light quickly went out as he realized he was being watched.

"It's left over's from the chow hall…" Spira began, "But I also snuck something else in." Spira tapped a glass bottle filled with a red liquid against the glass, its contents sloshing about "I figured since you used to be royalty, wine would be a bit more suitable than Jack Daniels." She laughed, "But don't tell anyone, I'm still under-aged."

After fidgeting with the cork for quite some time, Spira poured Loki a generous amount into a plastic cup, and then filled a cup for herself. She slid Loki's wine into the capsule and pressed the button than transferred it over to his side of the glass. Spira noticed the blood smears on the glass, quickly realizing what had most likely happened earlier that day. She played Loki's fit of anger over in her mind, imagining him punching the glass over in over until he drew blood. The left over emotions in the room were practically emanating of his cell like a noxious gas. She could tell he didn't want to talk about his outburst, so she left it at that.

"Damn, you did a number on this cell,' She said, looking around at the scorch marks that Loki had left earlier, "The wine will help, though." She smiled, "And it might ease that headache of yours-at least temporarily."

"How did you-"

"It's a side effect of having your mind dissected by me. You're a tough one to analyze." She took a sip of her wine and pulled up her chair.

"Um, thank you." Loki said, reaching for his cup, thankful for the ego-boosting liquid.

"Wow, you're using your manner, that's a step." Spira said sarcastically, as she took another sip of her wine before putting her cup on the floor.

Loki rolled his eyes before taking a large gulp from his cup, then setting it on the small shelf beside his bed that served more as a table.

"So, when are you getting out of here?" Spira inquired, tilting her head.

Loki shrugged his shoulders, and reached for his cup again, "I think it's my turn to ask questions tonight." He said, gulping down the rest of drink in one quick swig.

"Alright, but I think you're going to need more wine." Spira laughed and filled up another cup for him before transferring it to the inside of his cell. "_He sure as hell needs more._" She thought.

"How did you manage to sneak in to this room?" Loki asked, eagerly reaching for his cup and motioning about the room.

Spira put a finger to her chin, debating on whether or not to tell Loki. She pointed to the corner of the ceiling, "The ceiling in here has a bunch of ramps for Hawkeye, so he can have a stealthier outlook and better vantage point in case he needs to put an arrow between your eyes. But I use them to sneak around the headquarters. Hawkeye's okay with it, as long as I don't get into trouble."

Loki let out a small chuckle before asking another question, leaning forward and clasping his hands as he did so, "How did a girl like you end up at a place like this? What does S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters want with you?"

"I have connections." She smirked.

Loki tilted his head, and tried to read her again, slowly prying information out of her eyes, Spira beat him to it, "Stop." She replied.

"Tell me how you got here." He repeated again.

"Agent Romanoff thought I'd be a great addition to the staff here. I usually interrogate difficult prisoners," she held up her hand before Loki could say anything, "But-they gave me special orders _not_ to come in here."

Loki took a sip out of his cup before walking up a little closer to her, "Are you lying?"

Spira gave him a look that said, "Really?" and then blinked. "No, Loki, I'm not lying. They have you on their max security list. You're a highly dangerous criminal, and they didn't want me to become involved with you. It was more of an age thing I think. They thought a teenager couldn't handle the God of Mischief."

"So you _are_ here to interrogate me?" Loki said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm here to see why you're so dangerous, and to deliberately defy their stupid orders." Spira picked up her cup and took a sip of her wine.

"And?" he said, seeing her holding back information, yet again.

"And," she began, "I'm not telling you until I know I can trust you, which will probably not be for a while."

The two sat in silence for a moment and drank their wine slowly, Spira purposely keeping her gaze away from Loki's, and the god picked up on it. By now, he could tell when someone was trying to avoid him.

"What's the matter, too scared to look me in the eye?" He half-teased.

"I'm saving you the pain of another headache tomorrow. Plus I promised I would stop dissecting your head if you were nice to me." She shot him a look of warning before returning her focus to the control panel where hundreds of buttons lay, waiting to be pushed. She also left out the fact that it was tiring work for _her_ to jump into Loki's mind; the guy had it guarded and chained up like some sort top secret package.

"Are you done questioning me?" Spira asked, gulping down the rest of her wine.

"For tonight." Loki replied, chugging the rest of his wine.

"Geez," Spira said, watching him down the beverage, "Don't drink it all at once." She said sarcastically.

"It's been a long day." He replied, wiping his mouth and crushing the plastic cup in his hands.

"Right…" she said, folding up her chair, "Don't forget to throw those cups in the incinerator when you're done," noticing him practically strangling the cup between his hand, "Or flush them down the toilet or something. And do the same with your food when you're done."

Spira picked up the half empty wine bottle on her way out, before turning out the lights, and leaving Loki to dine on his first substantial meal.


	3. Chapter 3

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me.***

Well, it's been over a week I think since my last update, I've had no motivation at all, all I wanna do is sleep haha(: But it's about 1:11 in the morning and I have absolutely nothing to do, so I figured I'd write some more of The Art of Misconduct. I'm trying not to rush this story, because I'm so eager to get on with the plot, so forgive me if it's getting a little flat lined, excitement is just around the corner, I promise. Oh, and if you haven't checked out my profile, I mentioned that the mobile version of this is going crazy and not working at all, so I apologize… Please comment and give some inspiration guys!(:

**Chapter 3 **

Over the course of the next few days, Spira snuck in an assortment of food for Loki, hoping to relieve his distaste for the bland and foul-smelling food that he was regularly fed.

Boar was becoming suspicious that Loki was still alive, due to the fact that his regular meals were never eaten and left untouched. The buff and meat-headed security guard simply grunted and figured Loki must've put a spell on himself so he could go without food. While that fact was partly true, Boar was oblivious to the fact that the teenage girl that frequently mingled around the ceiling ramps of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters was providing the God with a more ample meal.

Besides sneaking Loki some food, Spira also brought Loki surprises from time to time, and introduced him to a variety of Midgardian traditions, such as checkers and Fairy Tales told by the Brothers Grimm.

While Loki had easily outsmarted the young girl in almost every game of checkers, he was perplexed by the stories she read to him out of the large book she started to bring with her during her visits.

"She cut off her toes just to fit inside a shoe?" Loki had asked her as Spira read the fairy tale of Cinderella.

"Yep. Stupid right?" she laughed, never looking up from the entrancing story.

Loki never really enjoyed being read to, but he was curious about the morbid stories and the macabre details contained inside them. He took a liking to Little Red Riding Hood, and how the wolf violently consumed the Grandmother in the story, as well as the young girl with the red hood. He found it amusing that someone would write such a vicious story and use fear to instill the lesson into children's mind.

Rumpelstiltskin was by far his favorite story from the book, and he rather admired the mischievous being with the outrageous name. Rumpelstiltskin reminded Loki of himself, with his tricks and deceitful ploys he liked to play on people. The God of Mischief grumbled at the ending, once Rumpelstiltskin was miraculously outsmarted by the Miller's daughter and defeated at the end by a lucky guess.

"That is completely preposterous!" he said in his proper and well-defined accent, "She cheated!"

"It's just a story, Loki." Spira laughed as she closed the book, wanting to pay full attention to his humorous reaction to the story.

"Yes but every single one of those stories pertains to real life, do they not?" The God replied, pointing at the book, "And the lesson to that particular story is that a smarter opponent may get defeated out of an idiots sheer luck."

Spira continued to laugh at his ranting, watching him pace the room in contemplation, "I think the true moral of the story is to not be over confident, like Rumpelstiltskin, and to not promise something without realizing the implications of said promise, like the girl."

"Well you and I have very different takes on the story, don't we?" he replied with wicked smile, narrowing his eyes.

"Ugh I can practically hear the wickedness spinning around your brain when you give me that look." She said, rolling her eyes and tucking the book under her chair. Spira had gotten used to the many facial expressions Loki had and knew exactly what each one meant. Usually, whenever he narrowed his eyes, he was either proposing a challenge or mischievously licentious thoughts were going through his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a falsely innocent smile.

"You know as well as I do that I can see right through you, God of Mischief." Spira said, cocking an eyebrow and folding her hands over her chest.

"Ah yes, I would say what you Midgardians say, what was it…" the God said, putting a finger to his chin, "Diggo."

"You mean _ditto_?" Spira replied, a smirk playing across her face.

"Whatever," Loki said, waving a hand, trying to hide his failed effort at attempting Midgardian slang.

"You know, tomorrow I could teach you a bunch of slang words and clever Ear-I mean Midgardian insults, if you are struggling with the subject." She said, obviously not letting him live down his slip-up.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Spiral One." This time, it was his turn to smirk.

"What did you call me?"

"Well that _is_ what your name means, does it not?" he said, very matter-of-factly, secretly amused at the rising anger flooding over Spira's face.

"Just for that, you royal pain," Spira said, walking towards the glass and sticking her finger out, "I'm bringing you extra-old left overs tomorrow." She turned away with a quick "Humph" and folded up her chair before flicking off the lights and leaving Loki in the darkness.

Loki smiled at her reaction, knowing that he would always be the one to win a battle over clever insults. Spira was a worthy opponent, he admitted, but she would never be able to beat him in a game of wits.

By now, he knew that she would never really stay mad at him, but she would keep to her word and send him cold left-overs from the chow hall the next night. It was worth it to him, as long as he got to see her skin crawl with aggravation. He couldn't help his nature, and she knew it, which made him all the more willing to propose a clever battle between them whenever he could.

With Spira's frequent visits, Loki's nights were the only time he was never thinking about his rage and contempt towards his father. He dare not say it aloud, but he was grateful for her visits, even if they were for only a few hours.

Loki slowly paced back to his cot, where he sat down and stared into the darkness. He frequently replayed Spira's visits in his head, re-analyzing the things she exposed him to. He very much enjoyed the stories she read him, even if they were meant for children.

Just then, in the midst of his reminiscing, Loki had an epiphany of sorts, an amazing realization. Spira was the only person in the entire universe who had ever treated him with such genuine understanding and acceptance. Sure, his brother Thor was kind to him and always held high hopes for The God of Mischief, but he was never on the same level as Loki. Spira seemed to understand Loki in a way no one ever had. He supposed it was mostly due to her mind reading, but he sensed that it went slightly deeper than that.

She teased him, she playfully insulted him at times, but she always seemed to be indifferent to his flaws. Never once had she judged him or shown any hint of fear towards him, which bothered him somewhat. But besides her never being intimidated by him, she also showed a mutual respect towards him. She wasn't like Boar, who tossed the God around like trash and tried to step on every ounce of dignity he had; she treated him like a…well like a human being. He grimaced at the thought, but then realized that being treated as a human being brought him more contentment than any other way he had been treated before. Granted, he still ached for power and hungrily grasped for a chance to rule over a planet or race of some kind, but given the circumstances, he knew that chance would not come for a very long time.

Perhaps he would not put Spira under his mind-control once he escaped from the prison he was caged in. Instead, he would take her with him to whatever planet he would reign over and have her become his Courtier or assistant of sorts. She would be an excellent addition to have when he was trying to gain influence over the population he intended to rule.

Behind all the wishing-to-reign and revenge-towards-his-father business, deep down inside the void of his heart, even though he stubbornly refused to admit it, Loki knew that Spira was his one and only friend in the entire Universe.

**XXX**

Sometime during the middle of the night, Loki was brutally awakened by an unknown force pinning him to his bed and clawing at his throat.

After struggling to get his eyes open, he found Agent Barton standing over him with cold and vengeful eyes, practically burning through Loki's head. The skillful archer dragged Loki from his bed and shoved him against the way, his hand still tightly wrapped around the ex-prince's neck.

Loki's face twisted into an evil smirk, knowing that Agent Barton had come here to threaten him, judging by the look in his eyes.

"Not so rough Agent Barton, You may crack the glass." Loki's eyes darkened, shadows swirling and conniving behind them .

"You will stay away from her you evil rat! Got it?" Clint shoved Loki against the wall of the cell again, the Gods head painfully bouncing off and making his eyesight go bright for a moment.

"What ever are you talking about?" Loki said, faking an innocent look.

Clint released Loki's throat before swiftly throwing an extremely agonizing punch that hit the God's face, leaving a red mark over his right eye, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Loki fell to the ground nearly missing another punch by the archer, which would've surely cracked bone. The God was fed up with this Agent's behavior , and Loki was tired in general of everyone but Spira treating him like dirt- he was a God!

Loki grit his teeth, lunging at Barton with a beam ready in his hand to fire at Barton. The God shouted as he pulled his back, preparing to throw a deadly blast at the infuriating archer.

Barton reacted just as quickly and pulled his bow out, an arrow already pointed at Loki. The two were evenly matched at that point, and either one of them could easily be killed by the other.

Loki stopped in his tracks after seeing the arrow, but kept his hand raised, prepared to fire it right at Barton's grinning face.

"Not so fast, God of Mischief." Barton said, clicking his tongue. The archer pulled his arrow back even farther, "If I catch you with the girl again, I will put this through your head before you can blink. Got that, pretty boy?"

"Agent Barton, I assure you, no girl has ever visited this cell, I don't know what you're talking about." Loki said, lowing his arm and playing innocent once again.

"Oh shut it," snapped Barton, "I've seen her bring you food and carry that book around."

Loki continued to play guiltless, quirking his eyes into a 'genuinely' confused look, "You still speak in tongues, agent. I still have yet to understand just _what_ you are talking about."

"I don't care," Barton said, walking backwards towards the glass wall of the cell, "Remember my threat, rat, because the second I see her running back over here, it's all over for you."

"Isn't that, ehrm- illegal, Agent?" Loki said, smiling again.

"Who's to say you didn't- oh I don't know- escape from your cell? Who's to say you didn't try and attack one of our staff members?" Barton said, narrowing his eyes.

Loki remained quiet as Barton back out of the cell, "Boar, get the door." Yelled the archer.

The hefty security guard pressed a few buttons on the panel, where a security screen came up. After messing around with the screen for a bit, the door slid open and Barton quickly backed out before ordering the door to be shut again.

"_Valuable Information…_" Thought Loki, remembering the key patterns to open the door out of his peripheral vision.

Barton left through the ladder leading up to the ceiling, slamming the hatch behind, him. Boar grunted, returning to his post near the vault-like door occupying the far right wall of the cell room.

Loki clenched his fists, his nails once again digging into his flesh until his palms bled. "_I have to get out of here._"


	4. Chapter 4

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me. ***

Finally, some action! The last chapter was a bit shorter, so I'm trying to make-up for it in this one. WARNING- the rating went up because of this chapter…beware…The beginning of this chapter was a little hard for me to write; I want to keep Loki and Spira's relationship strictly mutual and more of a strong friendship. As much as I'm completely for Loki fluff, I wanted this fanfic to be more about the companionship that Loki aches for, so yeah… Thank you to my Beta readers, I've probably thanked you guys about a million times…As usual, feel free to comment, I'm always open to critiques...anyways…ONWARD!

Chapter 4

After Agent Barton's visit, Loki decided he needed to find a way out. But how? He was useless inside his cell, and was virtually powerless besides his usual beams and basic magic. However, no matter how hard Odin tried, there were some properties of Loki's magic that were branded into him, and no one could ever remove them; his magic was like breathing to him.

He figured that if he could persuade Spira to break him out, she was his best bet out of here. Of course, doing that would be one of his greatest challenges yet. He knew she was aware of his misdeeds- who wasn't? But perhaps he could convince her somehow. There was no way he could make up a lie, she would surely see right through him, easily. He could talk her into it, or convince her that he needed to get back to Asgard…but that required lying also.

It was terribly aggravating having a mind-reader as a friend sometimes. Loki was mentally straining himself; trying to think of any way he could convince Spira to release him. Anything that he said to her to try to break him out would most likely be a lie. He could lie and tell her to use his scepter on herself, which wouldn't work. He could lie and say that something terrible was going to happen to Earth if she didn't break him out, which wouldn't work either.

Loki spent the next few hours contemplating and formulating some sort of an escape plan, but every single one required some sort of lie. The God then realized that throughout his entire life, he used lying to get what he wanted. He was so skilled at manipulating people that it was second nature to him. And now, his only hope of escape was a mind reader who could easily see through lying. How ironic.

Although Loki struggled with trying to find a way around the young girl's irritating but useful talent, he was oblivious to the fact that they balanced each other out. Loki had always struggled with having one extreme or the other in his life, there was never balance. Either he was completely overruled by strength or power, or he was a million steps ahead of the game. The Asgardian liked a challenge, and Spira was just that, but she provided balance for the ex-prince.

In the midst of his planning, Loki heard a clatter at the far side of the room, followed by a thud. Heavy footsteps were clattering about the room, almost as if someone was hurt.

The God got up from his bed and assumed a battle stance, preparing for another visit by Barton or another one of the Agents.

To his surprise, Spira stumbled out of the darkness and flipped on the lights, falling against the control panel. She was sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for air between breaths. She was dressed in a hospital gown that was smeared with blood. From what he could see in the dim light, both her arms had beads of the red liquid running down them, and dripping to the floor. Her face was deathly pale, and her dark eyes were swollen and red, a sickly yellow color surrounding them underneath her brown orbs. Her auburn hair was messy and insisted on sticking to the sides of her face. Between sobs, she was trying to brush it out of her eyes so she could concentrate on the control panel.

"Spira!" Loki shouted, running towards the glass, "What's happened, what's going on?"

"We're-getting-" Spira was struggling to speak, her sobs becoming louder, "We're-leaving."

Her hands were trembling, and she was struggling to stay upright, having to lean against the control panel for balance. As she brought up the control screen, she doubled over and fell to the ground, grasping her chest and gasping for air. Here breaths were coming in and out in short, shallow gasps, and the young girl was coughing wildly, blood splattering on the floor and dripping down her mouth. She reached up and wiped the red liquid from her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Spira," Loki said, bending down to her level and putting his hand on the glass, "I need you to get up and get back to that control screen, I know how to unlock it and I can help you do it quickly. I'll be able to help you once we get to safety, just calm down and get us out of here."

Spira continued coughing, but nodded her head in obedience, slowly lifting herself off the ground and falling against the top of the control panel again.

"Alright, bring up the cell room in the security map, then get into this control panel's mainframe, and punch in the code _L-O-K-i-1-M-A-X_. Hit enter, and then we'll get the hell out of this place."

Spira nodded, and with trembling hands, brought up the security map to the cell room and followed the rest of Loki's instructions.

She slammed her hand down on the touch-screen, and hit enter before falling to the ground again, her back to the control panel.

Loki rushed out of his cell and swooped Spira up in one swift motion, wrapping one arm around her back, and the other between her knees. He ran to the corner of the room where Spira usually snuck in at, but stopped as Spira tugged on his black suit.

"SECURITY BREACH. SECURITY BREACH." The automated voice of the security system sounded, and the cell door slammed shut again. The security screen on the control panel shut down and locked itself out, the words _Security Breach_ scrolling across the display.

"Damn." Hissed Loki.

"I brought your-" Spira pointed to the space behind the control panel, "Your stupid thingy"

At first Loki was confused, but soon understood as her saw a shimmering light coming from behind the control panel. He let Spira down, but still kept her close to him, helping her hobble along with one arm strung around her waist.

The God's eyes lit up as he grasped the shining object and admired the dancing blue ball of energy nestled at the top of it.

"My scepter." Loki said, smiling, "This is probably going to hurt, we're going to have to run."

Spira nodded, wiping her mouth again, and gripping on to Loki's shoulder.

The God of Mischief pointed his scepter at the door that lead out of the cell room, and in one quick and practiced motion, blasted it to pieces.

"Ready?" Loki said, looking over at Spira.

"No." she said, knowing that he was going to drag her out of S.H.I.E.L.D HQ anyways, dead or alive.

Loki grasped his scepter and made a run for the exit, yanking a bleeding Spira along with him. The two ran down the hall, stumbling over each other, but successfully making it out of the main part of the maximum security wing of the head quarters. Soon, they were only a few hundred yards away from the door leading to the hangar that kept all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emergency vehicles, until they were stopped head on by Barton and one of his arrows.

"Release her." Barton said, his arrow aimed between Loki's eyes.

"Barton, he's with me, stand down." Barked Spira, gasping for air again.

"Spira, what happened, did he do this to you?" replied the archer, taking a step towards Loki and preparing to shoot.

"No!" she screamed, putting a hand out, "He's helping me, it was the council-" she started to cough again, wheezing between breaths, "They put me in the lab."

Barton's eyes grew wide as he shared a silent understanding with Spira, "What? Why?"

"We have to go, please," she said, stumbling forward, "I'll explain later, hold them off!" the young girl said, pointing to a group of armed guards making their way down the hallway.

"Remember my threat pretty boy," Barton yelled at the two escapees who pushed past the skilled archer, "Don't even think about laying a hand on her or I'll…"

Loki and Spira didn't get to hear the rest of Barton's warning, they were already too far down the hallway and nearing the hangar door.

Loki raised his scepter and blasted through the door, picking up Spira again, and frantically searching for a vehicle that he could make a fast getaway in.

He spotted a military jeep used for scouting around the area, and ran towards it, depositing the now unconscious girl in the passenger seat before occupying the driver's seat and shoving the keys in the ignition.

"Guess it's my lucky day," Loki said as the car roared awake and sped forward, catching air as the jeep plowed down the ramp leading into the hangar. After watching the many 'chauffeurs' that drove him around before throwing him into the HQ's hands, Loki had picked up on how to drive an automatic vehicle. Good thing he was a fast learner and retained information.

Spira was slowly slipping away, and Loki needed to get help fast. By the way she was coughing up blood; he assumed her lungs were filled with the red substance and needed to be drained. After so many years shared with battling alongside Thor, he had a general idea of how to handle certain injuries, and he knew exactly how to take care of this one.

The God pressed his foot down harder, the pedal of the jeep glued to the floor. He headed into the nearest town, swerving around shock-stricken pedestrians and oncoming cars.

Finally, he spotted the perfect place to perform the procedure needed to save Spira. The jeep veered into a parking lot outside a small town diner, and parked the car, ripping the keys out of the ignition and throwing his scepter underneath the seat. Loki grabbed Spira, holding her bridal-style once again, and kicked open the door to the diner.

"Everyone move, I have an injured girl here!" he yelled, moving towards the bar of the diner, "You there, get me a bottle of your strongest alcohol, a glass cup, a utility knife, and a straw or tube-like hose, now!"

The chubby waitress nodded and ran to the kitchen, obeying Loki's orders. The Asgardian placed Spira on the bar so that her stomach was facing towards the ceiling. The waitress quickly returned with the items and dumped the supplies on the counter next to Spira's head.

Loki reached for the knife and turned Spira over on her side, cutting open the side of the hospital gown.

"This is going to hurt," Loki said, pouring some of the whiskey that the waitress brought over the side of her abdomen, just below her armpit.

"Someone fill this glass up halfway with water!" Loki barked at the crowd standing around him.

He took the knife and made a small incision in her side, poking a hole just big enough for the tube to fit. Spira screamed with pain as her eyes shot open, bringing her out of the darkness.

"And someone get her something to bite!" he screamed again, holding her still. "I know, I know." He said to Spira, who was gritting her teeth and crying in agony.

Someone pushed through the crowd and walked around to Spira and placed part of a towel in her mouth so she wouldn't break her teeth as Loki went through the procedure.

Loki took the tube and shoved one end through the incision he had made and placed the other end into the glass that was now filled with water.

Almost immediately, blood was sucked through the tube and emptied out into the glass. Loki ran his hands through his hair and slumped back in the chair beside him. Spira was now quiet and breathing with less difficulty, the occasional whimper coming from her every so often.

"No one call for emergency services." Loki said to the crowd, "I have this taken care of, I'm a-uhm-certified practitioner." He didn't want to draw any more attention to the situation than there already was.

Gasps and murmurs came from the crowd as the onlookers observed the girl on the bar. She was still bleeding from her arms, and there was now a tube sticking out of her side; not the common scene for a small diner.

Finally, once all the blood was drained out of Spira's lungs, Loki let out the breath he had been holding for the past ten minutes and breathed a sigh of relief.

He crept over to the other side of the bar and faced Spira, wiping back the hair from her eyes, "Better?" he asked, watching her eyes open slowly.

"I should slap you for stabbing me." She said, a small smile coming across her sweat-slicked face.

"If it weren't for me stabbing you, you'd be dead." He said returning her comment with a smirk.

"Whatever, just hurry up and get the tube out before I'm completely awake."

Loki nodded and walked over to the other side of the counter, "Do you want me to count?" he asked, grasping on to the tube.

"Yes, but no tricks. On three." She replied, stuffing the towel back in her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Okay…one, two, three." Loki firmly pulled the tube from her side, being careful not to rip it out too quickly.

"Agh Fuck!" Spira said, clenching her teeth and grabbing on to the side of the counter, "God I wish I had a Cortisone shot right now."

"You're just going to have to live without one," Loki said, dabbing whiskey over the incision before pressing a clean towel against it, "And it's just a little scratch."

"Here, I brought some bandages," said the chubby waitress who was pushing her way through the crowd, "I hope these help."

"Thank you." Spira mumbled into the towel.

Loki grabbed the bandages from the waitress and began dressing Spira's wounds. He helped her bandage the small needle marks that were on both her arms, probably from an I.V or some sort of shots. The God decided he would ask her later about those. As for the incision, he concluded that she would most likely need stitches since it was a good half-inch deep.

"Does anyone have the floss given by dentists on hand?" Loki yelled to the crowd.

"Dental floss." Spira mumbled, a small laugh coming out of the young girl.

"Whatever." Loki replied.

"I do!" Cried a man who was much shorter than Loki. The man had glasses with square lenses and thick, dark hair that was slightly balding at the crown of his head. He held out the small container of floss to Loki, who nodded politely after taking it from the short little Midgardian.

"Anyone have a needle?" He said again to the crowd.

"Me! Here, I have one!" replied an old woman who was standing near the back windows of the diner.

Loki gratefully took the needle from the woman once she made her way to the front of the crowd, then returned to Spira. The young girl had propped herself up on a chair, and was drinking out of the whiskey bottle that Loki had just used on her.

"You're going to need more of that." The god said, wiggling the needle and floss at her.

Spira groaned as she realized that there was still more pain to come. She took a large swig of the whiskey before placing the bottle on the counter and putting the towel back in her mouth, "Get it over with." She said, glaring at Loki.

Loki nodded and quickly strung the floss through the needle and began to stitch up the small but deep incision on Spira's side.

Finally, after a few short minutes of shouting and inappropriate obscenities, Loki finished stitching Spira up, thankful that she was now stable.

The crowd had cleared a little now, and one of the cooks from the kitchen was wiping the blood off the counter with a wet rag. There were people murmuring to each other and looking at Spira and Loki with nervous eyes.

"You have a lot to tell me." He said, taking a seat beside Spira, taking the bottle from her hands.

Spira looked at him for a minute, reading Loki's eyes and his demeanor before finally saying, "You thought I was going to die. You were _worried_."

"You weren't breathing for a good two minutes, and there was blood everywhere Spira. I know I may seem like I can predict the future, but watching you lay there, unconscious and not breathing in the jeep made me think the worst." He took a large gulp of the whiskey before capping the bottle and placing it on the counter.

Spira studied him again, searching for any kind of false authenticity. So far, he was honestly concerned for her well being.

"Since when are you so soft, God of Mischief?" she asked, poking at his side.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Loki smiled, putting on his best mock-innocent face he could. Spira decided to drop the subject and leave it at that. After all…he did save her life.


	5. Chapter 5

*** I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me ***

*Little bit of language in this chapter and violence

Well, the previous chapter certainly spiced things up a bit, yes? It was about time…(: Now for the next chapter, which will be focusing more on the "why" of what happened to Spira; be prepared for a lot of dialogue. Oh, and just to clear things up, this particular S.H.I.E.L.D HQ _is _in NY (The one from the movie) though I picture it more on the outskirts of the city…Uhm, it's about 5 in the morning, and I have yet to go to bed, so forgive me if this chapter takes some unexpected turns…Anyways, feel free to review/critique/comment, I love the inspiration!

Chapter 5

"We have to leave this fast food establishment as soon as possible," Loki said, looking up at Spira who was picking at the scratches on her arms, "And stop fussing with your injuries, you will make them worse."

"I know," Spira replied, rolling her eyes, "Where are we gunna go? The head quarter's agents are most likely on their way now, if they haven't found us already. And we caused a huge scene here, so it's guaranteed that if we stick around anywhere near this place we're dead."

The Asgardian put a hand to his lips in contemplation, trying to think of a safe haven within Midgard. Obviously, he wasn't very familiar with really any area of Midgard except parts of New York City.

Loki knew that once the head quarters searched the bustling metropolis, Fury would have every single S.H.I.E.L.D fallout centers around the world searching for the two fugitives. God even knows where they are located; there could be hundreds of fallouts within Midgard.

"Maybe we should just drive until we feel like we're not going to be discovered. The car surely has one of those emergency packs in it, with credit cards, clothes, stuff like that. We could try to take out as much money on those things as possible, take the car, and drive somewhere up to Canada," Spira was spilling out a random plan as the details appeared in her head, "But maybe the car has a tracker on it, which would be a problem. Or-or maybe we could just steal a car, but that would just add to our record. Okay, maybe-"

"Spira," Loki interrupted, "Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this. I think I know someone who can offer us assistance. We're going to have to locate an appropriate lodging facility that will grant us cover for the night."

The young girl continued to think of a plan, when one finally popped into her head. She already knew Loki would object.

"Well, we could always go to Stark's place." Spira said, preparing for Loki's obnoxious protests to her plan.

"Are you mad?" Loki started, "That would be the first place Fury would check for us. Stark would probably assist that bloody director in their hunt for us! Not to mention the grudge the conceited bastard has towards me for demolishing his tower. No, absolutely not." The Asgardians eyes were wide with rage as he started to pace the floor around the diner's bar.

Spira studied him for a few minutes, watching his rage die down to a more reasonable level. Finally, when she knew he was in negotiable standards, Spira began using her advanced persuasion skills.

"Loki," she began, taking on a rational and firm tone, "Stark is not going to rat me out, therefore he won't rat you out. And even if Fury decides to show up at his doorstep with S.H.I.E.L.D Agents, most of them are on my side anyways; they are nothing we can't handle. Plus, Stark has the ability to contact your brother easily, since that's who you're getting your assistance from." Spira finished with a smug smile, happy with her subtle attempt at persuading the mischievous God.

Loki narrowed his eyes as he had a silent conversation with Spira, making his distaste for her plan apparent. No matter how hard he tried to argue and object to the girl sitting in front him, he was overruled, once again.

"Ugh, fine!" He said, throwing his hands up and getting out of his chair, "Hurry along then, before any agents arrive."

Spira smiled as she slowly eased out of her chair, wincing at the various sharp pains that shot through her body. She realized that they would have to find help quick, for she was in no condition to put up a fight, and facing a hoard of agents alongside Nick Fury would definitely pose a threat to the two escapees. If it came down to that, Loki would most likely be on his own. She would have to give herself up so she wouldn't slow the Asgardian down, she couldn't let him sacrifice his freedom for her protection.

The mind reader and the mischievous God slipped through the city under the black cover of night like two shadows, avoiding the many spot lights of the street lamps and blinking signs. The ex-prince was an expert at hiding amongst the shadows, almost taking on the transparent form of the curious silhouettes. Spira followed Loki's lead, stumbling along quite noisily and holding her side that still ached. She had been going without pain killers since she left the head quarters. Each little cut and bruise on her body screamed with every movement she made; even breathing pained the young girl. Loki had offered to carry her but she refused, explaining that she would just slow them down; truthfully, she was too proud to allow someone to help her, she could walk, and that was enough for her.

Finally, they arrived at Stark tower after a grueling two hours of walking and stopping to let Spira rest. It was a painfully slow trek to the infamous building, but Spira knew it would be worth it.

"How are we to gain entrance?" Loki inquired, analyzing the glass door in front of him.

"Like this," Spira walked up to the door and placed her hand on the glass. A grid-like pattern appeared on the door in a faint green light, and scanned over Spira's small hand, "Cool right? Stark installed full-length scanners on all the main doors for easier and quicker access."

Loki made an unimpressed humph as the automated voice came on the speaker above the door, "ACCESS GRANTED. SUBJECT CONTAMINED. IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION REQUIRED."

"Ugh great, Jarvis is probably already waking Stark. He's going to kill me for disturbing his beauty sleep." Spira said, rolling her eyes. She looked at Loki and immediately read the tension splayed across his face. He even seemed a bit paler than normal, which concerned the young girl.

"Don't worry, Stark won't bite too hard," Spira joked, hoping to ease Loki's unusual tension, "Just keep your usual arrogant and aristocratic demeanor and you'll be fine."

The God of Mischief rolled his eyes at her and relaxed a bit, his eyes narrowing at her playful insult.

"That's better." She smiled.

The grid on the door disappeared, leaving just the empty glass which now slid open for the two fugitives.

The main hall of the tower was quite intimidating with its high ceiling and marble floors. A huge reception desk sat at the far back wall, papers scattered across the top of it. An elevator was situated on each side of the reception desk, along with several keypads and hand-scanners.

The set of spiral stairs to the left of the room was echoing with someone's heavy footsteps padding down the steps. Spira groaned, knowing exactly who was so joyfully climbing down the stairs.

"Hey Mindfreak," Stark's voice boomed over the railing, "Oh, and you brought target practice!"

"I told you to lay off the names, Stark, and Loki's not here to help you improve your aim- at least not today." Spira went over to the bed-headed narcissist and crossed her arms, "We need a place to stay for the night."

"And you need a hospital," Stark replied, walking around her and poking at the wound in her side.

"That's still tender!" Spira hissed, slapping his arm away.

"Really? I couldn't tell by the dried blood surrounding it." The hero replied sarcastically, "What happened, you're in pretty bad shape, partner."

Spira went silent for a second, her eyes cast downward. She sucked in a breath and held at her arm, revealing the numerous needle marks dotting her limb, "Look familiar?"

Stark's eyes went wide as he grabbed her arm and turned it over, examining it at a closer angle. The needle marks were turning a dark purple, and some of them were still excreting a small amount of blood.

"How could Fury let them do this?" Stark said, halfway to himself.

"Fury didn't know." The young girl whispered, her voice breaking slightly, "I haven't explained it all to Loki yet; get Pepper and I'll explain it to all of you while she cleans me up."

"Jarvis-"

"Already taken care of sir," the A.I system replied quickly, "Pepper is waiting in the Infirmary; I'll inform her of the identity of our guests."

"Come on." Stark said to the escaped duo, motioning towards the elevator, "And keep your scepter to yourself, target practice."

The two humans and Asgardian made their way to the elevator, Stark rambling on about his new improvements to the tower since it was partially destroyed. He blatantly pointed out how the top floors were especially hard to reconstruct since a certain Asgardian wrecked the area. Loki shot the hero a sharp look as the elevator ascended the tower, growing irritated at Stark's snide remarks. Spira was quite aware of the tension in the small room, and finally got Stark to shut up for the rest of the ride up.

Once the three of them arrived at the Infirmary, Stark immediately started throwing questions at Spira.

"Dude, chill with the questions," Spira set, wincing at Pepper who was dabbing a cotton ball over her stitches, "Sit down and I'll explain."

"I just don't get why the W.S.C would do this, she's still just a child." Pepper said, shaking her head, "And since when did they start up testing again?"

"Since they wanted a new biological weapon." Spira said, spitting her words out with hate.

"Since Stark refused to grant them use and research of his new line of weaponry, they decided to take matters into their own hands," Spira began, "They wanted another Hulk, but more on the psychological end of the scale. They figured that since Loki got pretty far with controlling minds, maybe they would use the same strategy. They knew Agent Romanoff had recommended me for Prisoner Interrogation, so they thought I had potential. I told them that my mind-reading was just a talent, but they were desperate for another weapon."

Spira swallowed a bit, and paused, trying to gather her thoughts.

"You're going to need some real stitches," Pepper said, taking advantage of Spira's pause.

"Do whatever you need to." Spira smiled, assuring Pepper it was alright by lifting up her arm and allowing Pepper to take a closer look.

Loki and Stark sat quietly, waiting for Spira to continue her explanation, "They had their new 'security' guards drag me down to the lab, where they strapped me down and performed god knows how many tests. First they started with a bunch of questions, trying to see if my skills were really just a talent. They tore my brain apart with those questions."

"Miss Spira," A stocky doctor began, "Have you ever heard voices in your head?"

"No."

"Have you ever heard someone else's thoughts?"

"No. I visually picture them, somehow."

"How long have you had this condition?"

"It's not a _condition_" Spira snapped, "And my whole life."

The questions continued on for about an hour before a voice sounded over the speaker on the ceiling, "That's enough, doctor. We want an immediate administration of physical tests on the subject. Hook her up."

"What?" Spira yelled, her eyes growing wide.

"Nurses, get in room 2, we're preparing for testing." The doctor said into an intercom.

"Oh hell no, I am not going to be some lab rat. You can kiss my ass you dirt bag!" Spira clenched her wrists and grunted as she broke the straps holding her down. Thankfully, they were only used for low-threat prisoners, so the restraints were easy to break through.

"We need security in here, now." The doctor said into the intercom in a mumbled voice, "Test subject is demonstrating violent behavior. Wheel in a maximum threat cot with straps. Now!"

Before Spira could make it halfway across the room, a bulky a menacing security guard slammed the door open, grinning at Spira. Three more followed in, blocking the only exit.

"_Shit._" She thought, backing up and scanning the room for possible weapons.

"Hold her down. Do whatever you have to do until the nurses arrive." The doctor walked around the edge of the room, allowing the security guards more room.

Spira's eyes went wide as her adrenaline kicked in, knowing that she couldn't fly away from the situation, she had to fight. Time slowed as she quickly decided how to go about this; she was clearly outnumbered, but she was small and could possibly use that to her advantage. Darting around the room until the exit was unblocked was a possibility, but the chances of that were slim. She had trained for this situation once she was admitted into the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters staff, but usually with some sort of weapon.

As her eyes darted back and forth between the four security staff, a light bulb flashed in her mind. Spira sprinted around to the side of the cot, turned it around, and launched the gurney at the bulky security guard that was in front of her. It hit the meat-headed staff member in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards a few feet. He grinned, like he had been waiting for Spira took make a move.

As Spira watched his facial expression change, she nearly collapsed with fear. Inside his mind, she saw what he was planning on doing with her. She knew that she needed to get out.

The front security member was advancing on a scrambling Spira, his followers tagging along. After sizing her options, Spira realized she would have to take a shot in the dark while making her escape.

In a moment of desperation, she threw herself at the security guard who stood the closest to her, charging at full speed. The little girl hopped on his back and latched on to his neck, her fingers crushing his windpipe.

One of the other security guards grabbed her by her dark auburn hair and yanked her off the now choking staff member she had just attacked. Spira fell to the ground, the back of her head colliding with the hard tile floor. Her vision went blurry for a second, but she rolled out of the way as she saw a vague dark figure flying towards her with its arm raised.

Once her vision returned, she found herself lying sideways beside the cot that was now turned over. One of the broken straps caught Spira's eyes, and she grabbed it before jumping up and out of the way of another oncoming security guard.

She drop kicked the security guard that had just lunged at her and pinned him to the floor, wrapping the strap around his neck. She put the loose end through the buckle and pulled as tight as she could, hoping to knock out at least one of them. The blue-faced guard clenched at his neck while she tightened it even more, her eyes narrowing as he gasped for air.

Her small victory was short lived as she felt a stabbing pain in her upper arm, followed by abrupt darkness.

For at least an hour, she slipped in and out of consciousness, fighting the Haldol that was coursing through her veins. She caught a few words like, "Impressive brain activity…genetically carried…not just talent…promising biological weapon…similar to Loki of Asgard's method…further testing…"

After the Haldol began to wear off, Spira's eyes shot open and darted about the room. She hardly had any idea where she was or what she was doing strapped to a cot with leads stuck all over her and three I.V's in her arm. She had an oxygen mask fastened around her mouth, and a million little beeps echoed around the room. As she slowly fell back down to reality, she remembered the fight and being injected with some sort of drug that swallowed her in darkness.

For the first time in a very, _very_ long time, Spira was angry. She clenched her wrists and grit her teeth, grinding her molars back and forth, trying to keep herself from screaming in a wild rage.

Her eyes scanned the room, shadows dancing behind them. She stopped at nurse with her back turned on Scarlett, copying something on a clipboard.

"_Probably prepping for more tests._" Spira thought, gritting her teeth again. Spira's anger rose as she watched the nurse scribble down information and flip the page up and back down. The mind-reader narrowed her eyes at the back of the nurse's head, hating the medical staff member for participating in the cruel testing of a seventeen year old. She probably gets paid a healthy salary for her cruel occupation. Those stupid council members-how dare they treat Spira like this! How dare they test her and poke her like a pin cushion, she had done nothing wrong! She should rip their throats out and make them endure what she had been through, they should be-

A scream emitted from the nurse who was now crumbled into a ball on the ground, holding her head in her hands.

Spira's anger was rising at the screams, until she knew what was going on. The nurse's screams were Spira's doing; _she_ was making the nurse cry out in agony.

"_Finally,_" Spira thought, "_A weapon._"

"Let me go and I'll stop." Spira said calmly, her voice taking on a dark tone.

The nurse was still screaming, but turned her head to look at Spira with a desperate look in her eye. She was sobbing, but bit her lip and nodded, agreeing compliantly. The nurse crawled over on her knees to the mind-reader, whose irises were completely black, almost like her pupil swallowed all the color in her hazel-brown eyes.

Spira could feel amount of strength she was using to do whatever she was doing to the nurse, and she slackened her hold a bit, trying to coax the nurse into letting her go.

The nurse felt the pain ease a small bit, and took the opportunity to get up and quickly scurry over to Spira and unlatch the high-threat straps that were holding her down.

"Thank you." Spira said sarcastically, shadows still dripping through her voice.

As she made her way to the door, her hope immediately diminished down to a speck as the four security guards barreled through the door. This time, however, they did not stand and grin like a predator waiting to pounce on its prey, the honestly had evil written all over them. The leader of the troop kept on charging towards Spira, his arm colliding with her chest, creating a sickening crack that echoed through the room. The young girl fell to the ground, coughing up blood and gasping for air.

Before she had a chance to try using her new weapon, the guard that had just tackled her punched her in the head, leaving a throbbing pain where his fist had been. The nurse that unstrapped her rushed over with another needle and stabbed it into Spira's neck with a quick jab.

"Oh _hell_ no." Spira said, gritting her teeth. The young girl ripped out the needle from her neck and stabbed the security guard who was on top of her with it.

Then, the darkness in the young girl's eyes returned, and everyone else in the room fell to the ground, holding their head. She kicked the security guard off her and swiftly made her way out of the room.

That was when the weight of the past three hours hit her, and the sobbing began.


	6. Chapter 6

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me***

Phew, well that was an exciting chapter. Now we return to the present and get to hear what Loki, Pepper, and Stark have to say about those wretched council members DUN DUN DUN…Oh and again, this is a STRICTLY friendship relationship between Loki and Spira. As much as I love Loki pairings, Spira is like 17…a bit young for Loki…haha. Sorry for the long updates, I've been on vacation since last Friday, and I won't be back until this Sunday. After that, I should be updating faster. This one is also more of a filler chapter, and features a little bonding moment between our two protagonists. Hope you guys are enjoying this story, fell free to review and all that. (:

**Chapter 6**

"Dayum Mindfreak, you whooped four grown men's asses? Nice job." Stark held his hand up, waiting for Spira to high five him, instead she returned his obnoxious comment with a sharp glare.

Pepper had fixed up the young girl and replaced her stitches, disinfecting her wounds as she tended to her broken body. The surgical tray was full of blood as disinfectant fluids, along with the makeshift stitches that were starting to form an infection. Pepper had insisted on an I.V for Spira to replenish her lost fluids and dehydration, but Spira violently refused after images of needles and tubes from the room at the H.Q flashed behind her eyes.

"I feel terrible Stark," Spira said, hanging her head, "It was like I became a different person. I felt like the Red Queen, raging mad and horribly malicious."

"Well, it sounds like your 'talent' is not really a talent at all. You're one of us kid." Stark replied, slinging an arm around her.

Spira gave Stark an unenthused look, and then looked over at Pepper who shrugged and said, "I mean, it's kind of true. But you have no idea how unique that makes you- you-"

"Get to use cool ass guns." Stark interrupted, a cheek to cheek grin spreading across his face.

Pepper playfully smacked his arm and continued her motivational speech, "You can save so many lives this way, and chances are, you'll get to do some pretty cool undercover work."

"Yea, in prison." Spira mumbled.

"Fury wouldn't have allowed this to happen, so we have him on our side. He can pull some strings and clear your record." Star said nonchalantly, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Tuning to Spira's thoughts, Loki mumbled, "It is not that simple."

All three of the Midgardians turned their head to look at Loki, waiting to see what else he had to say in the matter, "With my experience concerning the W.S.C, that group of individuals will stop at nothing to get their hands on something valuable," The God began, "They have over ruled Nick Fury before, who is to say they will not try again?"

"Yea but we have all the S.H.I.E.L.D heroes on our side; five super humans and two gods against a few politicians-"

"With access to basically _anything_, _any_ kind of weapon." Spira cut in.

"-Still, "Stark continued, "We can handle anything they throw at us. "

Loki, Spira, and even Pepper gave stark a doubtful gaze, wondering just how far the council would be willing to go to get their hands on Spira.

Even with Nick Fury and the Avengers on their side, the council could do anything they wanted. The W.S.C could use the media to diminish the heroes' reputations; they could have the National Guard and every single military squadron after them. The Avengers would never harm innocent people who were just doing their job; the council would stop at nothing.

"We should probably contact Fury, or wait for him to get here, since he's most likely planning his visit already." Spira said, looking up at Stark.

"Jarvis, get the fine china out." The narcissist said to the ceiling.

"Right away sir." The automated voice said, responding to Stark's sarcastic joke.

After Spira was cleaned up, she practically ate Stark's whole refrigerator before going to the room Stark prepared for her. Loki's was down the hall, and Stark and Pepper moved into the same hallway incase the faced any sudden intrusions during the night. Spira was given the comfiest pajamas in the world to sleep in, as well as a set of daytime clothes and battle clothes- just in case.

Sleep was out of the question for the girl, for her mind was racing in a million different directions.

Spira sat in a large chair by the electric fireplace with her knees curled into her chest, staring at the digital flames. She went through the past day in her head, gritting her teeth as she remembered waking up to find needles stuck in her and straps leashed around her. She remembered the agony she went through as she ripped them out and tried to make her escape.

It was a traumatizing experience for someone like her; she had only been at the head quarters for less than six months, and they were already trying to perform _tests_ on her? Spira became sick to her stomach at the thought. What if they starting testing anyone else that had powers or a talent similar to hers? How far would they go? What if the found her and the nightmare started all over again?

Spira bit back tears as she recalled herself stumbling through the hallways in her hospital gown, bleeding, sobbing, and gasping for air as she made her way to the ramp that lead to the Cell Room. She recalled leaving blood smears on the rungs of the ladder, and then a small puddle of blood in the ramp's hallway as she coughed it up from her lungs. After she released Loki, her memory went hazy. She remembered being in an excruciating amount of pain, running into Agent Barton, and then passing out. Most of her experience was a blur, but the anxiety and trauma still wedged itself in her mind. It was like the doctors stripped every layer of courage and bravery from her body, leaving an empty shell of fear. It wasn't until the adrenaline kicked in that she felt minutely like herself. Even withing her black-eyed fit of mind reading that brought that house down, she had lost almost every grip she had on her own mind.

She hardly remembered most of the diner. All that came into her memory was pain and blood. Loki had stuck a tube in her side and then messily stitched her up with floss and a needle. Spira shuddered at the thought of watching herself being stitched up with a sewing needle and floss.

Spira's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a soft knock at the door.

"Come in Loki." She said, already sensing his presence from the other side of the door. There was a darkness to his aura, but not one of pure evil. It was a mischievous presence, which fit his title and persona, but there were small inklings of sadness within his mind at times. If she could put a color to his aura, it would be black in the center and then slowly bleed out into a dark and earthy green.

"_Very fitting._" Spira thought.

Loki gently opened the door and stepped in, walking into the dim light up the fire. Her looked like he was about to say something, but instead gave Spira a curious look and tilted his head.

She realizing that he was silently asking about the stray tear that had inconspicuously made its way down her cheek. She didn't even realize she was actually crying until then, so she quickly reached up and brushed the tear aside, pretending like nothing happened.

"It is over now," The God of Mischief said with an understanding tone, "What they did to you was horrific and unforgivable, but you must not dwell on what is done."

She simply nodded her head, finding no comfort in Loki's words. Spira wanted to feel comfort, she really did, but at the present moment, she felt like the world was collapsing as she relived the horrors of the previous day.

The young girl got up from her seat and walked over to the dresser, grabbing a tube-like object. She pushed a button on the top of it, which released the cap that concealed a needle. Loki quirked his head in question, eyeing the needle.

"Cortisone." Spira replied. She jabbed the needle into her leg and grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as she pressed the button down again. After a few seconds, she groaned in pain as she removed the needle from her leg, leaving a small speck of blood.

Loki observed this interesting spectacle, for it always caught him off guard how fragile humans are. If he ever received an injury, he usually healed quickly and was never in need of any pain killers.

"I uhm-I asked Mr. Stark about the reference you made to the Red Queen, and he informed me that it originated from a story by the name of _Alice in Wonderland_." Loki said in a soft tone, seeing that Spira was teetering on the edge of a break down, "He presented me with the book on request before he showed me to my room. I've read it all, as I could not sleep tonight, and I see no Red Queen in you. You are most definitely more like Alice."

Spira turned her head to him and smiled and genuine smile, another tear slowly falling down her cheek,

Loki continued, trying to ease her sadness, "You see, the Red Queen is pure evil, there is not a kind bone in her obese body," he smiled, "But Alice-she has a spark to her. She took down an entire house of cards to save herself, and vanquished the Red Queen because she knew it was the proper thing to do. But Alice was a kind and curious girl, never evil or malicious."

Spira studied him for a moment, quirking her eyebrow and listened to the truth in his words. When he was finished talking, she smiled and got up, facing Loki.

She hugged him around the waist, nuzzling into his chest, beginning to cry again. The God hadn't been shown kindness like this in so long, his first reaction was to tense up and become as still as a rock, but as Spira began sobbing, he closed his arms around her.

"I will not let you turn into the Red Queen," he said, listening to her quiet tears, "You are the first person who has shown me genuine kindness and acceptance in more than a century, and I am grateful for that."

"It's called being a friend, silly." Spira sniffled.

Loki softened at that remark and held Spira until she finished crying, knowing exactly what it was like to feel like the world was crashing down around you. The mischievous Asgardian realized that he was beginning to form an unusual soft spot for the fragile human. He was certainly not one to comfort any living soul, in fact, the very thought disgusted him, but with Spira it was different. For some reason, he felt the need to return the young girl's kindness.

"We're creatures of the darkness, Loki." Spira said, hearing his thoughts, "You and I share a spot on the same wavelength, a place among the shadows. We are neither good nor evil and we find ourselves to be loners in this universe. But when we stumble upon someone who is just like us, which is exceedingly rare, we feel the need to connect with them and form a bond, for it is all we have to cure our solitude."

"Forgive me but, how does a Midgardian have the capacity to contain such a high level of understanding of something so dark?" The Asgardian replied, releasing the young girl and walking over to the fire place.

"A label does not define someone Loki; you of all people should know that." Spira said, tucking herself up in to the chair.

Loki turned his head to face her, and put on a strained smile, "Of course." He said, bowing his head slightly and then returning to look at the smoldering flames.

Spira watched him for a minute, trying to keep up with his constant thoughts that swam through his head, going a million miles an hour. She watched images of him being compared to Thor, and lectured by Odin, she felt the pain he felt when he remembered this agonizing memories. She saw him look at his hand and the surprise and anger he felt when he watched the pale flesh turn a dark sapphire color. The young girl heard the name Odinson and Asgardian run through his head, followed by feelings of hatred, betrayal, and anguish.

"Spira-"

"Sorry." She said quickly, snapping out of it, "I was curious as to what you were thinking. You seemed very focused." Spira knitted her eyebrows together and poked her lip out, pretending to be a stern and serious looking person. Loki chuckled lightly at her amusing facial, his eyes lighting up in the firelight.

"I should probably ask your permission before diving into your thoughts when you look focused." She said, slightly embarrassed.

"Well that never stopped you before." He said jokingly.

"Yeah, but that was before the whole 'saving my life' thing, so I figure I probably owe you at least a bit of privacy to your thoughts. While we're on that subject," Spira said quickly, "I never thanked you properly for saving my life." The young girl's eyes dropped, and she all of a sudden seemed very sad, going back to the memories of her barely holding on to her life, nearly slipping from this world permanently.

"It was merely payment for my release." He said, noticing her sadness.

"Thank you though, Loki. Really. Without you, I'd be dead or wishing I was." She replied, still looking at the floor.

"Wallowing on the subject will keep your feet glued to the floor," The God of Mischief said, lifting up the young girl's chin and giving her an encouraging look, "Do not force me to sputter out a motivational speech, you know that is not my forte."

Spira forced herself to smile through her sadness, taking on the literal meaning of the phrase, "grin and bear it". The corner of her mouth quirked up into a small smile, halfway at Loki's attempt to make her feel better, and halfway for herself.

"That's it." He replied, biffing her chin and straightening up a bit, "I trust you will be well for the rest of the night?"

Spira nodded her head in assurance and gave Loki another small smile, "Good night."

The God nodded professionally before closing the door softly, leaving Spira to herself.

The young girl walked over to the bed, pulling at a stray string that was hanging off the hem of her night shirt. Her eyes immediately went to the needle marks on her wrists that were now black and blue, looking like the color of the sky in a dreadfully dark storm.

Spira let out a long sigh and said to herself, "_Bring on the nightmares_."


	7. Chapter 7

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me. ***

Hey guys, sorry for the extremely long update, I've been really sick and in and out of the hospital for the past month, trying to figure out what's going on, so I haven't had much energy or motivation to update. Hopefully now that they prescribed me some medication to hold me over until they get me into the OR I'll be updating a little more frequently now. Also, I have an idea where this story is going now…I'm heading towards this being more of a prequel to another story with these two, but who knows? ;) Review/comment, give me some ideas!

**Chapter 7**

Spira's night was mostly sleepless, besides the few times she dozed off for a short hour or two. Whenever she was nearing a dream, sounds or images from the H.Q testing room flooded the screen under her eyelids and jerked her awake. It was like having a broken record in her mind, playing the same scene over and over. Spira thought she could manipulate the scene and push it to the back of her mind, but it just wouldn't go away.

What the mind reader was afraid of most is that these visions and flashbacks would impair her focus and abilities to the point where either she couldn't control herself, or she lost her mind reading all together.

Spira watched as the sun crept through the shades, creating a small triangle of light on floor in front of her bed. She made a frustrated noise as she realized she had stayed awake for most of the night, missing out on a much-needed recuperative sleep.

The covers were flung off the young girl in a quick motion and deposited on to the floor in a large heap.

"_Guess it's time to get up._" Spira groaned to herself.

The young girl stood up and flipped her hair to one side, quickly combing it out with her fingers before walking over to the dresser. Her eyes flicked between the day clothes and battle clothes a few times, a blank look on her face.

"Meh..." She mumbled, and shrugged her shoulders, deciding to stay in her pajamas, "Too much work."

Although Spira went most of the night without sleep, her body was still a bit stiff and heavy, making her feel like she had to drag herself to the door and slap her hand down on the knob to open it.

As soon as she got halfway down the hallway, her eyes narrowed as she felt two distinct presences around the corner. There was Stark, Pepper, and Loki's presence, but also two other ones.

The girl continued walking, but prepared herself for the unexpected as she rounded the corner. She stopped in her tracks as she came into the main sitting area of this floor of the tower.

Loki was the first to look up; a neutral but professional expression was splayed across his face. His eyes darted between Spira and the man that was now staring at her.

" ." Spira started, breaking the silence that was beginning to suffocate the habitants of the room, "I figured we would see each other sometime soon."

The man smiled, his eye patch crinkling up slightly, "Miss Spira, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. You have the head quarters in quite a fuss."

"I like to think of it more as an attitude adjustment," the young girl said, walking forward and shaking his hand, "Now where is Natasha, I sensed her presence here a moment-"

The red-haired Russian stepped out from behind a wall and greeted Spira with a warm smile.

"Tash!" Spira said excitedly and quickly walked over to hug the smiling agent. Natasha pulled Spira into a tight embrace, and the girls exchanged a giddy set of "It's so good to see you's" and "It's been forever's".

After a few minutes of that, Fury cleared his throat and the two girls straightened up and assumed a more professional stance.

"Wait-" Stark began, pointing his finger between the two girls, "You two know each other? I though me and you had a kind of secret friendship thing going on!" he pouted at Spira.

"Well you have been hiding under a rock." Spira laughed, "Thor, and Rogers are the only part of the Avengers team I haven't met. Well, and Fury, but I guess that doesn't count anymore."

"Well you're not missing out with Rogers." Stark said, receiving a glare from Fury.

Spira's eyes met Loki's and she could tell he shared the same thoughts on his brother. She gave him an Oh-please-he's-not-that-bad look, earning herself a sarcastic look back from the trickster. Loki couldn't exactly hear the words in Spira's mind, but her facial expressions spoke just as loudly.

They had a silent argument like two siblings for about five minutes, while the other four by-standers watched in confusion.

"_He is a complete dunce and conceited buffoon."_

"_Oh he's not that bad, quit being a baby."_

"_Well you have never lived with him how would you know?"_

"_Because I know you well enough to know that you are exaggerating."_

"_I do not exaggerate."_

"_Oh please."_

"_You will tire of him just as quickly as I do when you meet him."_

"_Will not!"_

"_Will too!"_

"_ ."_

"_ ."_

"_Will you be jealous or something if I don't tire of your brother?"_

"_What's that look supposed to mean? I do not get jealous either."_

"_You are so full of sh-"_

"That's enough you two!" Stark finally said, "Seriously, stop it, I'm getting freaked out."

Loki and Spira both let out an aggravated breath and glared at Stark in annoyance. The narcissist put his hands up in protest, not wanting to be in the center of Loki and Spira's argument.

The mind reader and the mischievous trickster glanced at each other quickly, a silent truce settling between the two. Natasha was looking at Spira in confusion, her head tilted to the side.

Nick Fury stepped forward and crossed one arm over his chest, the other arm stretched out with his finger pointing between Spira and Loki, "Did they just do what I think they did?"

"It's happens regularly."Spira said nonchalantly.

"Can you two like- _hear _each other?" Fury replied, a creeped-out look crossing his face.

"I am not able to physically _hear_ Spira," Loki said, his accent gliding over the words articulately, "But she can hear me."

"Right." Spira confirmed, rocking on her heels.

"I knew you held promise." Natasha smiled proudly at Spira.

"Yes…well…on to the reason why I'm here." Fury said, clasping his hands behind his back and pacing around , a darker tone falling about the room, "The council had put all future test subjects of all ages on immediate lockdown, and they have every bulky, dim witted security guard on the prowl for," Fury pointed between Loki and Spira, "You two."

"Future test subjects?" Spira ground out through her teeth, hissing the words like a venomous snake.

The intimidating director nodded, and Spira immediately understood what he was hinting towards.

"They are desperate for a biological weapon, something that can be manipulated at their will. Machines break and can only go as far as their creators allow. But people can be brainwashed, their minds can be altered. We have drugs that will make you become a mindless, drooling slave in less than three hours. The W.S.C has completely over ridden me once again, and I am powerless against this outrage."

"Forgive me, but you mentioned test subjects of all ages'" Loki said, a look of horror and confusion crossing his features.

Spira moved closer to him and put a hand on his arm, "They are testing on youth's Loki. _Small children_. Anyone they can get their hands on, even if they are barely able to talk yet. I saw it through Fury's eyes, it's horrible. It's sick watching them-having the-" Spira clenched her eyes shut, and took a deep breath, trying to prevent a future panic attack, "Bottom line is, it needs to stop."

The five other habitants nodded their heads in agreement, Loki giving Spira a look meant just for her.

"_This could escalate into something awful, Spira, something they might lose control of."_

"_I know."_

Spira took Loki's silent words into deep consideration, knowing that he knew all about humans and their ability to turn their own weapons against themselves.

The young girl was listening to everyone's thoughts in the room, most of them taking the seriousness of the situation into careful consideration.

"_Those poor children, how could they do such a thing?"_

"_How am I going to get through to the W.S.C, all my authority has been completely over ridden, I should be preventing this!"_

"_Reminds me of when I was working in Novgorod. That went perfectly…"_

"_Humans and their pitiful attempts at trying to grasp something beyond their understanding and control."_

"_Those bitches must need a lot of babysitters."_

Spira scoffed at Stark's arrogant thought, wishing that he would for once take things a bit more seriously. The narcissist looked over at her and gave her a weird look, which she in turn gave back an exaggerated eye roll before looking back to Fury.

"If we are going to stop this, we have to go about this operation as quietly and discreetly as possible. No explosions, obnoxious storms, obvious magic, green monsters, no nothing. This has to be on the down-low for as long as possible. The council has spies and staff members all over the place like blood hounds, as a matter of fact Stark," Fury said, walking towards the pouting egotist, "I suggest you either update your security system or get the hell out of here."

Stark glared at Fury for a moment and then yelled at the room, "Jarvis, I want every single camera, security pad, hand scanner, motion sensor, computer password, firewall, and anything else you can think of, reset immediately. Power on every emergency or extra cameras we have on the building, I want this place more secure than Fort Knox. No one should get within two-hundred yards of this place without me knowing. Oh, and activate the new soundproof system I installed a few days ago." Tony still had his eyes on Fury, but a smug smirk replaced the serious look he had on a few seconds ago.

"Damn Tin Man, you got it all." Spira said, crossing her arms.

"Well duh." He replied, rolling his eyes and lolling his tongue out of his mouth.

"I shall have all the new codes ready for you in your office, sir." The automated voice replied over the loudspeaker.

"Oh and buddy?"

"Yes, sir?" Jarvis asked.

"I want your program to be the most secure in the house. Impervious to even the greatest hacker in the world." Stark said, walking over to the coffee machine along the bar and pulling a cup out of the cupboard.

"If you insist, sir." The red light on the speaker clicked of and Jarvis set to work.

The five of them could hear all the doors locking, and things buzzing and beeping throughout the tower, creating a sort of technological harmony before Jarvis came over the loudspeaker again.

"Now initiating Master Reset."

For a split second, everything in the tower turned off, and the imposing skyscraper was completely dark. Just as fast as the lights went out, they returned once more. Several panes appeared on the windows in front of them, creating a banging kind of sound.

Once the sound proof installments were finished mounting themselves on to the windows, everything went silent, save for the obnoxious clinging coming from the kitchen. The clinging continued, followed by an even more obnoxious slurping sound, followed by more clinging.

"Stark!" Spira yelled, clenching her fists in irritation, "Can you _please_ make your coffee like a normal person?!"

Starks muffled snickers came from the darkness, which Spira responded to by growling angrily and crossing her arms.

Finally, the power came on, along with Jarvis' automated voice, "Rebooting, thirty seconds until renovation complete."

"Perfect," Stark said, walking over to the group with his coffee, slurping it loudly again. Spira gave him a warning look, sending sharp daggers flying across the table through her eyes.

"What are you going to do about it?" Stark teased, squinting his eyes and slurping his drink again.

"Stark…"Spira ground out through her teeth, her nails scraping the ends of the table, "Stop."

"Please, get over yourself," he said nonchalantly, waving his hand.

The other four on lookers observed the current scene silently, watching Spira closely, almost in intimidation. Loki stared blankly at the two, not really interested in a pointless argument between two Midgardians. Instead, he toyed with the end of his scepter, poking the end of it and then twirling it in his fingers absentmindedly.

"Stark, maybe you should-" Natasha began, but Stark cut her off.

"Maybe I should what, let the short tempered little girl boss everyone around?" he said, stirring his coffee again, the silver spoon clinking around noisily.

That was it.

Spira's eyes swirled with darkness until her irises were completely engulfed in black, and she gritted her teeth. Her nails were now carving small lines into the wood table, as she leaned forward and barred her teeth.

"What was that, Starky?" She asked in a low and hissing sort of voice.

When Loki looked up, he realized exactly what was happening. Stark was trying to find a way to trigger her power to see what made her tick, and which buttons were the wrongs ones to push.

"Oh nothing, I was just saying how much of a spoiled bossy brat you are sometimes." He said, masking his slight fear at seeing her eyes turn color, and her full power emerge.

Loki grew faintly worried at the severity of Spira's anger, and though he cared little for the stuck up narcissist, he certainly didn't want the girl doing something she would regret when she returned to her sane mind.

"Now Spira, calm down." Fury said, putting his hand up and reaching for his gun with the other.

Stark put his hand up to Fury, and gave him a reassuring look, passing his gaze on to Natasha and Pepper in hopes that they understood what he was trying to do. Fury gave him a confused gaze at first, but then quickly understood the egoist's motives.

Spira was leaning over the table and growling like a wild animal, her eyes, though black with fury, lit up with carnivorous bloodlust.

Loki wasn't sure if he was the only one who caught the dangerous glint in her eye, but a sudden feeling of caution swept over him as she quirked the corner of her mouth into a smirk. He knew that smirk, and knew what usually followed it. Either she was about to say something witty, or she was about to do something unexpected.

"Stark, I wouldn't-" he began, but Starks grunts and muffled screams interrupted Loki's warning. Tony sank to the ground, holding his head and curling up on the floor. Pepper began to rush over to him, but Fury pulled her back, in fear that Spira might target her next.

Despite his current state of excruciating pain, Stark egged Spira on even more, "Is that...all…you…got?" He hissed out, trying to hide the pain behind his teeth.

Loki felt like Stark was going too far, and he definitely knew Spira was about to do something she was going to regret, so he calmly walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Her attention snapped away from Stark to Loki in a split second, but somehow she restrained herself from using her powers on the ex-prince.

Her dark eyes bore into Loki icy blue ones, at first vicious and angry, but then suddenly confused and vulnerable. Loki saw this as a window of opportunity, and attempted to bring her back to Earth.

"Don't do something you're going to regret," he warned, "He's just being a reckless bastard."

For a moment, Loki anticipated further action from Spira, and gripped on to his scepter firmly, waiting for her next move. But as the darkness swirled out of her eyes, he relaxed slightly, along with the other members of the room.

Loki kept his eyes glued to Spira's, trying to make sure nothing upset her further as she slowly drifted back to her normal self. He saw the sanity return to her eyes, as well as an overwhelming amount of confusion and fear.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, whipping her head about the room and breaking the God's gaze, "Did I hurt anyone?"

Stark groaned from the floor, and Spira quickly rushed over to him kneeling down to where he lay, whining like a baby, "God damn Spira, you are like some bat-crazy witch from outer space.." he said, making his way up from the floor.

She scoffed and whapped him across the head, "Stark you idiot, I should slap you across the face for that, what were you thinking! You had no idea what I could've done to you!" she yelled, scolding him for his careless behavior.

"Yea, you're probably right," he said, "But now we've got ourselves another weapon."


	8. Chapter 8

***I don't own any of the marvel charters in this story, yaddayaddayadda, please don't sue me.***

Well, this chapter is more of a filler chapter and kind of short , the next one should be when the action starts up again. More notes at the bottom of the chapter so I don't spoil it for you. Read and Review!(:

***Edit:** I reviewed this and realized I had quite a bit of errors, I guess that's what I get for writing at three in the morning. Anyways, here is the freshly re-edited version.

**Chapter 8**

"I am not going to be used solely as your 'special top secret weapon' Tony!" Spira and Tony had been through this for the millionth time today, and Stark, who seemed to have no patience for stubborn people, was being surprisingly adamant about his idea for Spira.

"Don't think of it like that, think of it as like," Stark was running out of clever excuses to try and persuade the girl to begin training immediately, "Like a really cool-"

"Save it Stark," Spira interrupted, leaning against the lab table and pinching the bridge of her nose, "I have no problem helping out with this situation involving the council, but I am not going to act as a peace weapon or anything of the sort."

"So you want to fight, is that it?" Stark replied, an irritated tone crossing his voice, "Because we can arrange that, and you know, give them a chance to get their hands on you again. You want to find out what that's going to be like?"

"I appreciate your concern," Spira hissed out with sarcasm, "But yes, I want to take down those bitches if it's the last thing I do."

"Stark perhaps we should let her try," Fury began, coming between the two, "Just like Agent Romanoff said, she holds promise. Get her into training, and contact Banner, I have a feeling he could help her with her…temper."

"Sir I don't-"

"That's an _order_." Fury said, firmly.

Spira crossed her arms and gave Tony an I-got-my-way look, as she exited the lab room after Fury.

Spira headed for her room, intent on reclaiming her lost sleep from the night before. Her day had been long, filled with numerous discussions and plans as to how to stop the council's sick testing. So far, the group aimed to start with Spira and her goal to control her powers, and hopefully know where to go from there, depending on her progress. She was happy she finally arrived at the chance to gain control of her newly discovered strength, and she looked forward to training. Spira had watched Agent Barton countless times in the H.Q's training halls, and had only dreamed of acquiring half the skills Clint possessed when it came to kicking ass.

During her first few weeks at the headquarters, the only _real_ training she ever received was acting lessons from Natasha, and dirty tricks that would fool even the most intelligent person. Mainly, her time spent at the HQ consisted of reading thesis after thesis and textbook after textbook over a general knowledge of field survival techniques and advanced first aid. It would've been months until the management there would've found a place for her. Even then, she probably would've been recruited to shadowing someone or just a simple student-in-training. She knew Natasha had pushed trying to get Spira into the utmost advanced classes and placements for new agents, but the head leader of that headquarters put off Agent Romanoff's recommendations time and time again. Now, Spira knew why- they were keeping her as a place on the bookshelf until the proper moment, which was when they could get their grubby hands on her and begin testing.

Spira tried not to think about her time at the headquarters too much, and focus on what was to come. She knew she would have to mentally prepare herself for her physical training, as well as the instruction Banner was to offer her.

Fury made his way to the meeting room, and called a meeting between himself, Stark, Romanoff, and Loki. The S.H.I.E.L.D Public Director had some unfinished business to take care of, that couldn't wait, and something told him that Stark and Romanoff felt the same way.

Once all four members were situated inside the room, Fury closed the door and began his lecture.

"Loki Laufeyson, it is to my understanding that you have come to share a closeness with Spira." Fury began, placing his hand on the table and glaring at Loki.

The God simply rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, "I hate to disappoint you, director, but you are not the first to confront me with this issue."

"Oh?" Fury questioned, curious as to what the God of Mischief had to say.

"Yes, indeed, as I was so…_graciously_ escorting Miss. Spira out of the headquarters, Agent Barton nearly put an arrow through my head, and proceeded to threaten me with messages of a very colorful nature. And before that, we had a-shall we say, _private_ moment in my cell as he gave me a very attractive bruise over my eye." Loki got up and paced the room, his cool anger boiling up only slightly to the surface, "I assure you all, I have no intention of harming the girl. In fact, I am quite thankful she happened to bring me along for the ride." He smirked at the four members in the room, sensing their rising discomfort at his unpredictable nature.

"Loki, you killed over five hundred civilians in your attempt to gain control of Midgard, and you are partially responsible for the death of an entire galactic race, which were under the command of you during your invasion," Natasha folded her hands over the table, and leaned forward to emphasize her distrust, "How are we to believe that you are not going to take another life, specifically Spira's?"

"It is true that I am responsible for many deaths, and even more before that," Loki's boots padded along the floor as he paced the room, "But as I have said, I assure you I have no intention of killing her. If I wanted to, I would have done it already."

"Alright Ice Cube," Stark began, rising to his feet and facing Loki, "Six weeks ago, you wanted the obedience of every single being on this planet, and now you have assumed the role of," Stark motioned to Loki, "Whatever you are now. It seems to me that based off of your previous behavior, we all have a reason to be suspicious."

"Are you inferring something, Mr. Stark?" The God asked, knitting his eyebrows in irritation and offense.

"Yes Loki, I'm inferring that this is another one of your plans to take over the Earth, and I will do anything to stop your Quik-Freeze little self from doing that." Stark was now toe to toe with Loki, his finger poking at the God's chest, "And I will make you another promise, you lay one finger on her, I will hunt you down and have you strapped to the end of a rocket so you can return to Asgard as a charred remain of your former self, got that?"

"That's enough Mr. Stark," Fury interrupted. Stark was glaring at Loki, all sarcasm wiped clean from his face. For once, Stark was completely serious, "I think Mr. Laufeyson gets it. We are all concerned with Spira's safety, therefore we will keeping a _very_ close eye on him. "

Loki was by no means intimidated by piddly little death threats, he had received enough of those to last two lifetimes, but to put an end to the aggravated conversation and false accusations Loki nodded, "I understand _perfectly_, sir."

Romanoff looked between the two men standing beside Loki and couldn't help but smile at their protectiveness. Spira had become like a younger sibling to them, and they all felt the need to make their points clear. Natasha felt no need to threaten Loki, she knew from past experience with the mischievous god that he knew what others felt about him.

Loki excused himself from the meeting and headed out the door, closing it firmly behind him. As he made his way down the hallway, he was yanked from the corridor into a familiar room.

"Spira I believe that is hardly necessary." He said, looking down at the girl who stood in front of him.

"Sh, keep your voice low, I don't want them to know I'm awake. I went out to make some tea because I was having problems falling asleep and heard everything. I wanted to talk to you about it before you went to bed." The girl walked over to sit on the edge of her bed, cross legged, and pulled the covers over her from behind, so she looked like a giant pillow.

"Their words mean nothing to me Spira, you needn't worry." He replied, walking in front of her and taking the chair that was placed beside the bed.

"Oh I'm not worried about you," she joked, giving him a playful smirk, "I just felt that it was unfair of them to gang up on you and judge you so harshly."

"Spira," Loki began, crossing his hands together, contemplating on something. Spira knew that he was going to tell her something that he felt mildly uncomfortable with, so she completely withdrew from his mind, and let him speak, "I have murdered many people and have wronged so many in the process. Granted, I still hold a vast amount of hate for many people too, including my father. Unfortunately, they have reason to not trust me, _good_ reason. I still crave for that power that I held once, I still want it with every fiber of my being, but you must know," Loki walked over to Spira and kneeled before her, taking her hands in his, "I would never do anything to cause harm to you."

"Well coming from you, I can tell that's a big deal." She smiled. Even without being inside his mind, she knew that she was witnessing an almost unknown side to the God. She knew that he would rather die than show his true feelings to someone, but for some reason, she was an exception.

He gave her a small smile, and she sensed a small bit of frustration, "Loki," she said suddenly becoming very serious, "I know you would never do that. As I've said before, we're like one in the same, and you're my friend. I would hope that would not want to cause your own friend harm. I am sorry for the things and people you have wronged, and I understand _perfectly_ that you are dangerous. I have seen the want in your mind for power, but I must admit there is something else in your mind too."

Loki quirked his head, afraid of where this was going.

"You have been lonely for so long, that you have trained yourself to believe acceptance and power is what will make you happy. I know you don't like hearing it, but I want you to see what I see in you, because I have seen it in myself." Spira begged Loki to understand, "Not quite to your extent, but I know how it feels to be cast aside. To be honest Loki, if you chose right now to try and take over Midgard again, I wouldn't be mad and I wouldn't see you any differently as you are now, but I would be disappointed that you didn't try seeking happiness another way."

Loki was silent, unsure of what to say. He had never been confronted with such rawness and understanding, but part of Spira's speech made him quite angry. Partially because she forced him to relive his troubled past, and partially because she forced him to face what has always been in the back of his mind, buried beyond layer upon layer of lies he forged for himself in order to cope.

"Now, enough with all this heart to heart crap, it's starting to make me sick," Spira said, laughing lightly, "Just know that if it means anything, I will never judge you. And I know you say it the other's threats don't bother you, but if for some reason they ever do, remember what I said."

"I will try to follow your orders, Spira." Loki said, rolling his eyes, "And thank you for the nauseating talk." He released her hands, but still kneeled in front of her.

"Anytime." She replied, hugging his neck, "Oh, I almost forgot!" She said, releasing him and putting her hands up, "I wanted to ask you, since I am to begin training, do you think you could show me some of your sneakier moves? Ones that don't involve magic, obviously. I have a feeling that you have a few up your sleeve."

"Of course," he said. And to demonstrate, he pulled the cover from underneath her quicker than lightening, so she flipped backwards and landed face first in her pillow. It was like he slipped the tablecloth off of a table without disturbing any of the utensils.

"Hey!' she laughed, snatching the comforter from him.

He allowed himself to let out a small laugh as he made for the door, stopping before he opened it to wish her a good night.

"Goodnight." She replied, giving him a small but sleepy smile.

Finally, Spira fell into a comfortable sleep, surrounded by the fluffy down of her comforter.

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Well, for those of you who have seen Drop Dead Fred, I can just picture him doing his fake-puking thing while reading this chapter. It was quite a gooey and unusual moment for our two protagonists, but I feel like at least one Loki fanfiction should maybe include Loki's inner battle in a more blunt way. Loki won't be this gooey and stuff throughout the rest of the story; this was just a "one of those moments" moment. And this chapter was also one to build on Loki and Spira's closeness that they share, so hopefully it added to the structure of their friendship. (: Alright, I'm done boring you, on to the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me***

Yay, another update! Thankfully, I got this one out there in less than a week, which is an accomplishment for me haha(: I picture Loki in this chapter kind of like V in V for Vendetta, when the vigilante is throwing the knives towards the end of the movie, in the last fight scene. If you haven't seen it, it's totally epic and you should watch it. Right now.

As always, Read and Review!

**Chapter 9**

Spira woke up during the earlier hours of the morning, around the time that the sun barely began to peek up from the horizon and illuminate the tower in a rich orange glow. She was set on getting as much training in today as she possibly could, as well as a vast amount of variety in her instruction. The girl planned on having Natasha continue her acting lessons with Spira, as well as the more acrobatic side of fighting. Once Banner arrived, she knew he would have a wide variety of mental exercises planned for her to endure, which would most definitely tire her out. Spira knew that she had always had the stamina to train all day, but when it came to training her own mind, it was exhausting. Perhaps it was the price she had to pay for the remarkable gift she possessed. But to start her day, she knew of only one person who would most likely be up already, and she planned on taking his instruction first.

Spira dressed herself in all black clothing that was flexible, yet comfortable. She didn't want to be itching or complaining over her clothing during a day as important as this one. Though from past experience, she knew that the second day of training was always the hardest. The first day you felt invincible and inspired, and you absorbed every ounce of your instruction like a sponge, pushing yourself to your limit, but the second day was when your muscles screamed with aching pain, and your mind fried itself to a crisp.

Keeping that in mind, she padded into the kitchen and put the ceramic tea kettle on the stove after she filled it with water. Spira had always loved tea, and used it as a substitute for coffee; she hated coffee.

To go with her tea, she toasted a bagel and smothered it in peanut butter, trying to load up on as many carbs and as much protein she possibly could to fuel her for the beginning of her day.

The kettle began to whistle, creating an obnoxious whining noise that echoed through the kitchen. She prepared a cup of tea for herself, making sure that it was loaded with caffeine, just for a little extra kick, and sat down at the table, alone with herself in the orange sunlight.

Spira didn't realize how thirsty she was, and finished her tea in almost one gulp, despite how hot it was. She deposited the mug into the dishwasher, and poured herself a glass a water to drink with her bagel.

It was times like these that she loathed because she absentmindedly slipped into thought and memories that she locked away in the back of her mind. Sometimes, Spira was her own worst enemy, and would frequently throw herself into a trance of conflict based off of the problems in her life that she tried to ignore.

The first memory that came to her mind while she sat, drinking her water, was that of the testing room. As much as she tried to manipulate and delete that memory, it would not go away. They arrived in her mind like bright flashes from a camera, blinking from one second to the next. For a moment she found herself strapped to the hospital bed, struggling to break through her restraints, and then the next moment, she found herself stumbling through the halls, bleeding, shaking, and clawing her way to Loki's cell room.

Spira held her head in her hands, trying to burn those memories, or violently murder them so they would leave her alone. She knew she had been through a traumatic event, there was no denying that, but how come they insisted on buzzing around her mind like annoying mosquitoes?

"Go away…" she mumbled, as she squeezed her eyes shut, intent on banishing the visions from behind her eyes.

From inside her inner struggle, she saw an aura that brought relief to her, slowly bringing the girl out of her frightening trance. Dark green and black flooded her mind, and opened her eyes, but still held her head in her hands.

"Loki." She said simply, greeting his presence as he walked into the kitchen.

She heard the chair in front of her skid along the floor as he pulled it from the table and sat down quietly, not saying a word.

He folded is hands on the table, pressing his mouth into a thin line as he sensed her dark mood. It practically left a taste in his mouth, it was so strong and made the air around him seem stuffy and heavy.

Despite the angry emotions fluttering through the air, he kept silent, his blue-green eyes trained on her, waiting for the girl to speak.

When a few moments passed, and Spira still hadn't uttered a word, Loki broke the silence, "What's wr-"

"Nothing." She said firmly, noticeable anger dripping from her words.

Spira immediately noticed that her reply came out quite more bitter than expected, so she hastily apologized, even though she knew Loki wasn't that easily offended, "Sorry." She said, looking up at him, "I made tea." Spira motioned to the kettle on the stove that was still steaming.

Loki regarded her with his eyes again before getting up to go make himself a cup of tea.

"Mugs are in the cabinet on the right." She said, sitting up fully and regaining a bit more of the excitement she woke up with.

"You consume tea in mugs?" he asked, quite confused. Loki associated mugs with the tall and metal containers ale was served in on Asgard, usually after Thor had conquered another enemy and a ridiculous celebration was thrown in his honor.

"Uh, yea." Spira replied, laughing a bit at Loki's unusual question

Loki opened the cupboard and glanced at the odd looking, ceramic containers that lined the bottom shelf of the cabinet. He picked on up by its handle and turned to Spira with a thoroughly confused look on his face, "Is this the mug you speak of?" He studied it closely, turning it around and dangling it by the handle on his finger.

"Loki, haven't you ever seen a mug?" Spira laughed, getting up a taking the cup from him.

"Of course, do you think me daft?" he said, watching her closely as she poured him a cup of tea, "The mugs we have in Asgard are significantly larger and are made of metal; and we _certainly_ do not drink tea out of them. Besides ale, most beverages are served in a chalice."

"Well I hate to disappoint you, your royal highness," Spira joked, "But most Midgardians don't have the privilege of taking their beverages in a chalice." She handed him the tea, which he took with hesitance, "Plus this design makes drinking tea easier, since it has a handle fit to the size of your hand."

Loki gave her a strange look, but proceeded to sip the tea anyways as he rejoined her at the table. After a few more sips, he placed the mug back on the table and looked at Spira, "You are to begin your instruction today." He stated, watching her stare out the window as she ate.

"Mhm," she mumbled, before swallowing her food, "I figured you would be up this early anyways, so I want you to teach me as much as you can first."

Loki was silent for a moment, considering her words, "I am not someone who can teach you to be the strongest opponent, or best fighter, those are more of my…brother's strengths," he said, scowling a bit, "But I can guarantee you that by the end of my training, you will be able to outwit your opponent with ease." He gave her a mischievous grin, which she returned with her famous smirk.

"Alright," she said, her excitement building, "Let's go."

Spira hopped up from her seat and quickly deposited her plate into the dishwasher, along with her glass of water that she gulped down in one swig.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Spira questioned Loki, turning around to him.

"No, I'm not hungry." Loki rose from his chair and slid it back into place with a gracefulness that only royalty can possess. Spira laughed quietly to herself at this spectacle and shook her head; she knew no matter what the circumstances, the God of Mischief had to act with complete dignity and formality. Spira knew pigs would fly before she ever caught Loki slouching or dragging his feet when he walked.

"Alright then," Spira said, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge and heading towards the hallway, "The training rooms are in the basement, since it's way cooler down there and stuff. I guess Stark didn't want to spend the extra money on trying to cool more rooms than needed, since his tower is so big…not that it matters, Stark is loaded…"

Loki let Spira ramble on absentmindedly as she led him down the hallway and to the elevators, which would take them down to the lower levels of the tower. He could tell she was quite excited to begin her training, but he knew that her enthusiasm would diminish into deep frustration after he was done with her instruction. He had never trained anyone before, but based off of his own harsh self discipline, Loki would not let Spira slack off, even in the slightest bit. He prepared himself for a morning of bickering and sarcasm.

Finally, the elevator made a dinging sound, and the doors opened up to reveal a large room with black foam covering the floor. Weight benches were set up on the sides, and a fully stocked armory concealed most of the back wall. There were numerous doors that lined the side walls, most likely leading to private training rooms or more armories.

"Right then, what do you want to learn first?" Loki said, pacing slowly to the center of the room and stopping to face her.

"Well…"she began, walking around the room for a minute, and then stopping once she arrived in front of the back wall that housed a variety of weapons, "I think that these-"

"Absolutely not." Loki said firmly, beating her to the punch, "You will start your training with hand-to-hand combat. Weapons later."

"Awh..but why?" Spira whined, running her eyes over the shiny and lethal weapons that made her feel like a kid in a candy shop.

"Weapons will not always be available, or they may not be sufficient enough to conquer your enemy. Weapons are also for individuals who possess no skill in outwitting their enemy. With a clever enough mind, you could outsmart an entire army." He glanced over at Spira who was pouting as she kept her eyes glued on the weapons.

"Ugh fine." She said reluctantly, walking over to him, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, since you cannot use magic to your advantage, we shall focus on your reflexes." Loki walked over to a wall that held several long, wooden staffs, and pricked one from its holster in the wall, "Now, let us pretend that your opponent has gained the upper hand in combat, and is in possession of a weapon and you are not."

"Okay…" Spira said, shifting her weight, and preparing for what he was about to do.

"Of course, naturally, you will be able to predict any move that your opponent is planning on executing, thanks to your extraordinary power, " Loki spun the staff in his hands and circled Spira.

Spira saw that he was going to swipe the staff downwards, which would catch her feet and knock her to the ground, so she prepared to jump out of the way, fast enough to avoid his advance.

"But what if your opponent is…" Instead of his intended move, Loki flipped the staff so it was horizontal, and quicker than light, he brought it upon Spira's back, which made her double over. He then swiped one of her feet with staff, making her lose her footing and fall to the floor, "Unpredictable?"

"Ouch, hey watch it, Asgardian!" Spira said, rubbing her back and standing up again.

"You must be able to react quickly enough so that if your opponent decides to modify his moves at the last second, you will already be one step ahead." Loki raised the staff again, aiming for Spira's abdomen, but she bent backward in time to miss the top of it, which barely missed her face as Loki angled upward so it would have struck her in the head.

"Like that." He said, smirking as Spira barely missed his attempt at whapping her in the face, "You are a fast learner."

"You know you could've hurt me pretty bad just then." She said, narrowing her eyes, and then jumping out of the way as Loki swiped the staff at her again.

"But I didn't," he said, watching her duck from another oncoming strike.

Loki turned around and brought the staff over his head, intent on knocking Spira to the ground once more, but she caught it in her hands and jerked it upwards so it struck Loki in the jaw.

"Now we're even." She smirked, before throwing herself into a fit of laughter as Loki rubbed the spot where the staff had met the side of his face.

"Very funny," he grumbled, tossing the staff aside, "Perhaps we should take a different approach on hand-to-hand combat." Spira quirked her head to the side, but let Loki continue speaking, "When trying to defeat your opponent, there are key points in their anatomy that can potentially lead to their undoing. The collar bone, for example: breaking an individual's collar bone will almost always result in immediate paralysis of the arm."

Loki lifted his arm and traced a line from his collar bone to his shoulder, then down his limb to his fingers, "Instead of trying to break or fracture an entire limb, damage what allows the limb to function."

Spira nodded as he continued, "Ultimately, your goal would be to hit the back of the skull where the spinal cord is connected to the brainstem, but oftentimes, that is more difficult than simply breaking a collarbone. You must slowly break down your victim until you can make the kill."

As Loki talked about 'making the kill', Spira noticed a strange look in his eyes, almost one similar to that of a blood thirsty carnivore. She reminded herself that he was still very dangerous and power hungry, despite his sometimes calmer side he presented to her on occasion.

She tried to not let it bother her, and took into account that killing was almost second nature to him; whether it be out of bloodlust or defense, Loki had no problem with ripping someone's head off.

Loki's instruction about pressure points and soft spots continued for some time, before she grew antsy and insisted on bringing out the weapons.

"Pleaseeee," she begged, insisting that she was ready to finally use one of the guns that almost seemed to be winking at her is it glinted in the glass case.

"Alright, fine," Loki said, caving in to her whining, "But no ranged weapons."

Spira was already halfway to the weapons case when she slumped over and pouted again at Loki's mention of not being able to use any ranged weapons.

"Weapons that require ammunition have several risks and complications that cannot be ignored. You need a weapon that is reliable, durable, and quick." Loki produced two knives from his coat and held the ends of them in between his thumb and forefinger and with a flick of his wrist, sent them flying towards Spira. The girl completely froze as the blades sailed towards her, but they flew passed her and landed beside each side of her head, pinned to the foam that the guns were held in on the wall.

Spira had a look of complete and utter shock on her face as her mouth hung open. Her surprised immediately switched to anger as she eyed the sly God.

"You…" Spira was fuming, as she marched towards Loki, "You arrogant_…snake_! You could've killed me! What if I had moved an inch, huh? I'd have one of your bloody knives sticking out of my face!" she couldn't help herself, and before she knew it, she was screaming at Loki, "Do you expect me to think that launching knives at my face is acceptable? I should wipe that smirk right off your face, you little show-off!"

Spira grit her teeth and tried to hold back the darkness that began to swirl in her eyes and threatened to unleash itself upon Loki. It had come on quicker and easier than she intended, as was caught off guard as the shadows threatened to take over her. It seemed that they were provoked easier and easier each time she got angry. Spira tried to shake the blackness from her mind, telling herself that he was just being his usual _irritating _self, but the shadows grew closer.

Loki found her outburst quite amusing, but for Spira's sake, he tried his best to suppress another smug grin from spreading across his face. He noticed the black that threatened to envelope her eyes, but being the God of Mischief, couldn't help himself.

"Temper, temper, Spira." He said slyly, his voice almost a whisper. He could see the battle behind her eyes, she was trying as hard as she could to keep the darkness from overtaking her, and for once, she looked like she could possibly overcome it. He dropped the 'teasing' card, once he saw that this might be a big moment in Spira's training, "Fight it." He hissed demandingly, gripping her shoulders.

Spira squeezed her eyes shut, and clenched her fists, trying to banish it away. From behind her struggle, she knew that Loki was pushing her to gain control of her powers. She felt the beginnings of mental exhaustion, but listened to Loki's words, and continued to attempt to gain control of herself. An evil and sinister sort of presence cooed her into its arms in the front of her mind, its soft but distorted voice coaxing her into its embrace. It told her to let go, and not struggle so- that she would be safe in its unbreakable grasp.

She had never experienced a struggle like this before, usually she lost control quickly, and didn't try to fight the darkness that was trying to win her over; but now that she was putting up quite a battle, it unleashed itself in her mind, trying to persuade her in every way possible.

She opened her eyes again, but the darkness was slowly swallowing the whites of her eyes, her rusty-brown irises already gone. For a second, Loki feared his efforts were in vain, but refused to give up on someone who had promised not to give up on him. It was an unusually unselfish act for the sly God.

"_Fight it._" He hissed again, gripping her chin fiercely and forcing her to look at him. His expression was hard, his jaw clenched tightly, and his eyes narrowed, the blue-green color now a dark green as he bore his eyes into hers.

Spira grit her teeth and a small hiss escaped from her as well as she imagined herself pushing the darkness out of her mind, "Go away." She mumbled, "Go away, go away, go away…" she repeated that phrase over and over again until Loki saw the shadow in her eyes slowly evaporate.

"That's it," he said, his expression still hard, "Don't lose your sanity."

"You're one to talk." She gritted out between strangled gasps

In her mind, Spira could feel herself gain the upper hand, a sense of unfamiliar self control flooding over her, "You can't have me." She said, speaking to the shadows in her mind, "Not this time…" she whispered.

She closed her eyes again, and repeated her words over and over again, feeling the darkness retreat. _Go away, go away, you can't have me, go away, not this time…._

Loki felt her noticeable relax in his grip, just like she had yesterday when Stark idiotically pushed her towards the edge. He kept quiet, waiting to see if she succeeded in fighting herself for the first time.

Her eyes slid open and met Loki's, which had returned to his usual aqua-colored green. They both breathed a sigh of relief as the shadows evaporated completely, and Spira gained her sanity again.

Their head snapped up at an annoyingly familiar (and narcissistic) voice coming from the far side of the room where the entrance doors were, "What…the hell."


	10. Chapter 10

*I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda*

I'm aliveeeeeee! Sorry for the extensive and agonizing break, but I'm gunna try to start this up again and shoot out as many chapters I can in as short amount of time. I've got some good ideas for future chapters and can't wait to write them. Oh, and for anyone having trouble pronouncing Spira's name, I know it's a little far into the story, but it's "Spear-uh" not "Spy-rah". I've had some people pronounce it some weird ways…whatever. Enjoy you guys!

**Chapter 10**

"Seriously though, this shit is getting creepy," Stark said, pointing his finger at Spira who was sitting with her hands clasped and her head down, trying not to giggle, "And Loki was like _helping_ her! Loki doesn't _help_!"

Loki sat beside Spira in Doctor Banner's makeshift office, a smirk spreading across his face as he observed the stifled giggles coming out of Spira's mouth. Stark had called Banner up immediately and had him rushed to the tower within a matter of hours. Thankfully, the doctor was in the city already for a demonstration at the local university of the effects of different types of radiation on a human being.

Stark had found Loki and Spira in the training room downstairs after one of her "episodes" and Stark was beyond weirded out by the whole spectacle. Now Stark had had his fair share of unusual and disturbing instances, but seeing Loki _helping_ someone really confused him. On top of that, he had known Spira for about a year and a half now, and he had never known about her gift until a few days ago. Stark was one of the recruiters for the headquarters in his spare time, and he knew Spira would fit right in as soon as he viewed all her stats. She instantly took a liking to him, and they had the same sort of sarcasm and headstrong but stubborn attitude that set them apart from most of the overly-obedient and robot members of S.H.I.E.L.D's faculty.

"I've got it taken care of," Banner said, raising an eyebrow at Spira as she let out a snort, "Looks like we need to figure out what _exactly_ is triggering these episodes. We don't want this becoming unpredictable and dangerous, so we will have this under control as soon as possible."

"Whatever, just make it so I don't ever have to walk in on a Spira-and-Loki therapy session ever again." Stark replied, waving his hand and shutting the door behind him.

"Spira, we'll be getting started, do you wish to have Loki present?" Banner looked carefully over at Loki who was toying with the end of his scepter and staring off with that cold and intense gaze that set so many people on edge.

She shrugged and looked over at the God who gestured with his scepter to continue.

"Sure." She said, making herself comfortable on the couch and crossing her legs, Indian style.

"Right…" The Doctor said, and continued on speaking, this time directly to Spira, "Now we know that your episodes are triggered primarily by your reaction to something that causes you anger or extreme annoyance, however, we need to know exactly _what kind_ of annoyance." The Doctor shifted his eyes toward Loki for a second, then back to Spira. Spira caught on to the gesture and furrowed her brows slightly. Why was everyone so on to Loki? Sure the God was a complete psycho, but in Spira's presence, there was a better chance of a fly attacking someone in the general vicinity than Loki.

"Now, what exactly happened this last time you had an episode? In the training room?" Banner added.

"Well.."Spira said, trying to recall what had just happened that morning in as much detail as possible, "Loki was teaching me how to outwit any opponent, and how to predict your opponents moves with my mind, even if they are unpredictable. We practiced with some staffs, which I got the hang of quickly, so we decided to move on to another subject." Spira paused for a minute, trying to figure out exactly what happened in her mind during the next second in her story, "Then…I had gone over to the armory to look at the guns in the cabinet…they were so shiny…" Loki rolled his eyes at her comment, but Spira continued on, "Loki had told me before that I need to prepare by _not_ practicing with weapons in case I am found without one, but I wouldn't listen and reached for one of the guns anyways. Loki threw his knives at me, _narrowly missing me on purpose_" she said, narrowing her eyes at Loki, in which she received another smug smirk from the mischievous Asgardian, "And then…then I…well" Spira was stumbling over her words, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion and frustration, "I don't remember."

She looked to Loki, a small frown on her face, the realization coming to her that she really _had_ become a different person while she was having an episode. The last few times it happened, she vaguely recalled the details of one of her attacks, but she still remembered. Now, the memories were hazy.

"She grew angry at me for teasing her and she threw a fit. Like a spoiled child." Loki said in a monotone voice, "I saw the darkness in her eyes grow, but then behind the shadows, I could tell her will to fight it was showing through. So instructed her to fight it, which she did after a small amount of time."

"I am not spoiled," Spira mumbled, lightly kicking his scepter with her foot.

"I never said you were, merely said that you acted like one."

"Whatever, Asgardian." She said, leaning back on the couch and looking at the ceiling.

"Well, from what Stark told me about the first time he saw this happen, he provoked you and taunted you until you fell into a state of extreme anger, which than triggered an attack. What Loki did was on a lower scale of…provoking than what Stark did, so it seems the attacks are being triggered easier and easier each time. Tell me about the first time this happened." The doctor said, his eyes glued to his clipboard, the pen in his hand making little scratching noise on the paper.

Spira looked down, and felt Loki tense for a quick second beside her, knowing that the memories of that first time will still like a fresh wound. They bled and were more painful each time they were reopened.

"I was taken into the lab," Spira said quietly, "For testing."

Banner's pen stopped scribbling and he looked up at her and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. He mumbled something inaudible under his breath, then shook his head.

The doctor looked like he was going to say something, but instead just paused for a moment, staring at his clipboard."…Go on." He said finally, in a soft voice.

"I woke up with needles in my arm, tubes strung everywhere, restraints on my arms and legs, and my head spun like I has just gotten off a possessed carousel. I woke up to find one of the nurses writing something on a clipboard with her back turned to me. I was so fucking pissed that I just gritted my teeth and felt this anger rush through me. The next thing I know, the bitch is on the floor screaming and holding her head. I realized that I was the one making her scream and told her I would stop if she let me go. She was still holding her head, but I could feel some of the anger subside, so I figured I must've let up a bit." Spira was gripping the edge of the couch, her nails digging into the sofa, a gesture she normally subconsciously did while recalling something painful. She noticed her fists growing white, and released the couch and crossed her arms instead.

Banner rubbed the side of his face and took in a breath of air, "Alright, so obviously the first time this was triggered was a very serious matter. You were taken into the labs, unknowingly tested on and restrained, which you woke up to, triggering a violent onset of anger, which led to the attack on the nurse."

" 'Bout sums it up." She replied bitterly, the taste of blood in her mouth at the recollection of her time in the test room.

"Loki, were you present at this time?" the doctor inquired, his gaze shot back in forth between Loki and Spira, watching both of their reactions to her story.

"No, only after the inferior and disgusting Midgardians treated her like a lab rat." The god replied gripping his scepter tightly.

Spira made a small smile at his protectiveness and anger over what happened, she felt like he was her guardian in a way. Not like a parent or a brother, but more like a companion or mysterious figure that watches over you from a distance. She had never had that before and it was a strange yet warming feeling to know that he was looking out for her.

"Not all Midgardians are inferior and disgusting." Banner said, raising an eyebrow once more.

Loki's face twisted into a scowl as he let out a bitter chuckle, turning his gaze towards the wall.

Spira new, even though she was close friends with Loki, he would always feel a strong distaste toward those of Midgard- and to be honest, she didn't blame him. She had always been the cynical type, and could see where Loki was coming from. Granted, she didn't absolutely loathe almost everyone on the Earth, as Loki did, but especially after her time the headquarters, her view towards people had definitely shifted towards the more negative side.

Part of her wanted to be the hero and show Loki that not everyone was all bad in the world, and that he could enjoy life happily and all that cliché mushy stuff, but how would he take her seriously when they were in a realm where grown adults illegally performed cruel and dangerous tests on _children_. He would undoubtedly laugh in her face and tell her to get her head checked if she wanted him to take her seriously.

"Spira, what happened after you were-erm-released from the testing facility?" Banner asked carefully, voice notably taking on a more cautious tone.

"I wasn't _released_" she hissed," I _escaped._ And I fought my way through four body guards and that bitch of a nurse who tried to drug me again. I was hit in the chest, smacked in the head, stabbed in the neck. I don't really remember much except getting angry again, feeling that power rush over me, the security guards and nurse on the floor, and then all of a sudden, I was outside the room. I stumbled down the hallways, smearing blood all over the walls, coughing up blood, it was terrible. I thought for sure I was going to die during those agonizing minutes. Somehow, I managed to steal Loki's scepter from the vaults on the way there, and find his cell. I let him out, and he helped me to the hangar, and we ran into Clint on the way there by the way who helped us escape, and then I blacked out." Spira had spit out her story so fast and so jumbled, that Banners eyes were wide with confusion, trying to follow her through her story. Loki was still twirling his scepter around, but she could tell he was waiting for Banner to respond to her story.

"I-I" Banner began, stutter slightly, "This is not good."

Spira was disappointed by his simply answer, so she quickly piped up, a bit frustrated at his disbelief, "Well duh!" she said, getting up and pacing the room, "I'm telling you doctor, these people are psycho, has Fury filled you in on their more _recent_ test subjects? Little kids, younger than ten years old! It's sick!"

The doctor nodded his head and took his glasses of, chewing on one of the ends, "We need to get your power under control immediately," he said, vigorously scribbling down something on his clipboard, "Your power could quite possibly be our biggest ally. Not just the episodes, but you being able to virtually read their minds, that could help us tremendously. It's no question that the council needs to be replaced, but this mission isn't going to be like New York." Banner shifted his eyes over to Loki and back to Spira. Spira was getting quite tired of all the prejudice towards Loki, but chose to ignore it for the time being, "We have to go about this as quietly and discrete as possible. No explosions or rapid gunfire or epic fights. We need to get a hold of Barton, he would help us greatly in the effort to infiltrate the headquarters."

Spira nodded, but saw inside Banner's head that the Doctor was anxious about Barton being captured, brainwashed, or tested on as punishment for assisting Spira.

_Shit_, Spira thought, _I had completely forgotten about that. I just left him there to fend for himself, who knows what could've happened to him._

"We need to attempt to make contact with Barton as soon as possible," Spira said, getting up and rushing towards the door, "I'll come back after I've reached him. Thanks doc." Spira waved as she rushed out the door, motioning for Loki to follow her.

Banner stopped Loki on the Gods way out, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I assume the others have threatened you about harming Spira," the doctor began, "But I can see she trusts you. She is a strong ally and even stronger friend. I wouldn't want to jeopardize that if I were you."

Loki kept his eyes trained on Banner, but said nothing as the doctor removed his hand from the God's shoulder.

"You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Banner said, as her turned back to his clipboard and began scribbling once more.

Loki was confused at this strange saying, but had the feeling it had something to do with acting less…lethal towards people. The God of mischief shrugged his shoulders and followed after Spira who was already at the end of the hallway, waving towards him to hurry up and follow her out.

_You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar_ Loki repeated in his head, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous saying, _But you can kill more with a flyswatter._


	11. Chapter 11

***I do not own any of the marvel characters in this story***

Alrighty, this chapters quite…exciting. Lots of emotion. Tell me if you think Loki seems out of character, I'm trying not to make him _too_ OOC.

***WARNING: LOTSA LANGUAGE AHEAD***

**Chapter 11**

"Agent Barton, did you have anything to do with the release of Miss Spira?"

"I told you sick fucks I had nothing to do with her escaping!" A fist connected with the side of Clint's jaw with a sickening crack, one of the many blows he had taken since the council's "security" took him into custody. The Agent spit out a mouthful off blood on to the floor, the red substance spraying over the puddle that was now collecting beside the chair Clint was being "detained" in.

"If what you say is true, Agent, then how do you explain our security guard's reports of you conversing with her before her and the Asgardian made their escape to the hangars?" The voice came from the darkness in front of him, only clasped hands gave Barton evidence that there was another in the room besides the two guards that stood on either side of him.

"This is a bit cliché, don't you think sir?" Barton hissed, his voice gurgling slightly from the blood spilling into his mouth. The Agent was sure his nose was broken, and his jaw dislocated. One of his eyes was beginning to become swollen shut, and there was a dull throbbing on the side of his head.

"Not as cliché as you getting caught and captured." The voice sneered with a smug tone to it, "To think, the famous Agent Clint Barton being the damsel in distress."

Barton grit his teeth and struggled against his restraints, straps securing him to the office chair they had wheeled him in on.

Hawkeye estimated he had put an arrow through at least fifteen of the guards, and brought down a few more with his explosive arrows, but they just kept coming like ants when the little insects were disturbed. The archer surely had not gone down without a fight, but it was as if a small army had attacked him, and before he knew it, the agent was outnumbered.

Even though he had been taken into custody, the agent was satisfied that he at least made it possible for Spira to get to safety, even if she was being assisted by The God of Mischief.

Why was Loki helping the girl? Surely it was for some sort of personal gain, his freedom perhaps. He prayed that she had enough sense to escape from the Asgardian's clutches once she was away from the headquarters. God, he hoped she wasn't dumped on the side of the road somewhere, or reduced to ashes by his scepter.

How did he manage to get that again?

"Agent, although you are a highly valuable asset to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team, " the voice threatened, "You are not irreplaceable."

Barton remained silent, his eyes focused on the darkness in front of him, and his mouth in a sneer.

Two gloved hands rubbed nervously together in front of him, flexing and unflexing in an irritated manner.

"You can still save yourself, Agent Barton," the voice said slowly, carefully, and with disguised irritation, "Just tell us where she is, and why you helped her, and we will guarantee your safe release."

"Go fuck yourself!" Barton said, spitting another mouthful of blood out, but this time, into the darkness in the direction of the voice.

A hand darted out of the darkness followed by a torso, and finally a face, revealing a man no older than Barton, with a face permanently twisted into a scowl. His face was flushed, with scars crisscrossing across his left eye. Part of his iris had gone white from the scar, while the remaining part was dotted with dark brown speckles. Dark circles surrounded both of his eyes, giving the appearance that his eye sockets had sunken in due to years of stress and sleepless nights.

For a moment, Clint was stunned, expecting one of the old and wrinkled council members to be the owner of the dark voice, but instead, a skinny and scowling young man stood before him.

The hand that belonged to this strange man held Barton's jaw tightly, his thumb nail digging into the side of the agent's face, "Listen here you piece of shit," said the man, gritting his teeth, "I'm am going to make sure you suffer, along with that hot piece of ass you're always with."

Barton's eyes went wide at the mention of Natasha, vulnerability spreading across his face like a lit up billboard.

"She has nothing to do with this." Clint said, his voice rough through his gritted teeth.

The man chuckled at this, his expression darkening with an even more sinister look, "Not true, Agent Barton. In fact, your little bitch is in Stark Tower as we speak, along with several other members associated with the Avengers team. It seems they have called a meeting pertaining to the whereabouts of Spira and the Asgardian."

"How do you know?" Barton spat, his tension rising at the thought of this man and his guards knowing where Natasha was.

"Well we saw your little troop of misfits waltz into Stark tower just a couple days ago. Not that hard tracking a whore, a Cyclops, and a giant green monster in broad daylight." The man laughed, tightening his grip on Barton's jaw.

"Banner's there too?" Barton said to himself, realizing just how serious this matter was if almost all the Avengers were there already. _Almost_.

Clint silently wondered why Rogers hadn't shown up yet, unless he went into the tower undetected or the WSC already had him detained. _No, that can't happen_.

"Yes, the doctor arrived there early yesterday morning. Don't you see Agent, we have you all under a microscope, we always have. All the while, you all go about your business thinking no one knows what you're doing…" The man leaned in close to Barton's ear, and whispered in a sinister hiss, "Who you're doing it with."

"You son of a bitch-I am going to make sure you suffer-don't turn your back on me you fucking piece of shit-I'll kill you-you'll never get your hands on Spira or any of the Avenger's-they'll tear you and your fucking gorillas apart-Rot in hell you fucked up, zombie faced fucker- FUCK YOU-"

"That's enough Agent Barton," the man said, turning his back to Barton, "Men, put him away, maybe he'll talk after some time in time out."

The two guards undid the straps and hoisted him up, dragging his stiff legs across the flood that was now speckled with blood.

"Hey fuckface," Barton said, yelling at the man who was now at the door they were nearing. The man turned his head, acknowledging the Agent, "If you have taps on all of us, how come you haven't found who you're looking for?"

The man turned his head back and opened the door, "Put him in the _back_ cells." He said before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Make sure he suffers." The man said to the guard outside of the door, before turning around a walking down the hallway, his fists clenched under the sleeves of his trench coat.

* * *

_Back at Stark Tower__…_

"FUCK YOU!"

"NO ONE LIKES YOU."

"Yes, you are an insolent worm."

"Thanks for helping guys, but it's not really working." Spira said, leaning back in the chair, her face red from laughing so hard.

"It seems all we've done is amuse her." Loki said, noticing Spira's face was now turning a deep shade of purple.

Spira burst out laughing again, grabbing her stomach and wiping a tear from her cheek, "I don't think my episodes can be triggered in a situation like this."

Banner and Loki had been trying to provoke Spira for about an hour, until Stark walked in and gladly volunteered to help. All they had gotten accomplished was making Spira about die of laughter during their attempt to trigger an episode.

"Spira I'm about to slap you." Stark said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"As am I." Loki said, shaking his head.

Spira laughed again, "Psh, Loki, you wouldn't touch a-"

_WHAP_

The sound of skin connecting with skin echoed throughout the room. Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor except Loki's, whose was held steadily in place.

Spira held her cheek, her face turned away from Loki from the impact, and her dark hair covering her eyes. A low growl sounded from the back of her throat, as her head turned around slowly. Her eyes connected with Loki, her irises swallowed in complete darkness. The God didn't break eye contact with the girl, even as she snarled and launched herself at him, bringing him to the ground.

"You asked for it!" the God yelled at the girl, struggling against her nails that threatened to claw at his face.

Stark and Banner snapped out of their surprise, Tony running to grab Spira who was throwing punches at Loki who easily restrained her from doing so. Stark grabbed her around the waist as she struggled, screaming as she did so, shadows concealed in her voice.

"No-NO! Let me rip that arrogant bastard apart, I'll kill him! Let me go-LET ME GO!" Spira kicked and screamed as Stark dragged her to the wall and pinned her up against it, holding her arms down as Banner approached her.

"Spira, we need you to control yourself, control the darkness." Banner said, cautiously approaching the young girl with piqued curiosity.

"GET OFF ME YOU PRICK!" she screamed at Stark, kicking the wall and banging her head against it.

"It's like she's possessed…" Stark said, observing Spira's behavior.

Banner shook his head, "No, she just doesn't know how to control it yet."

Loki got up and brushed himself off, running his finger over a small cut on his cheek from one of Spira's nails. He grabbed a syringe that lay on one of the operating trays on the counter in the middle of the room and walked over to the screaming girl who was now digging her nails into the wall.

"Remember this?" he said, holding the syringe up to her neck.

Spira instantly stopped screaming, but a growl sounded in the back of her throat once more, taking place of the deafening shouts.

"I'm going to stick this into your pretty little neck unless you start behaving." He said, his voice low and smooth as silk.

Spira spit in Loki's face, which he wiped away with his hand, a scowl crossing his face, "Listen here," Loki said, grabbing her neck and moving the syringe closer to her neck, "Spira, you will make a truce with this being that invades your mind. Control it as it controls you."

Spira barred her teeth, her screams threatening to start up again, "I will make you suffer Asgardian." She spat. Banner and Stark fell to the floor, their hands holding their heads just as the nurse did in the testing room in the headquarters.

Loki half expected Spira to make a break for it and run out the door, but instead, a sinister smirk fell on her lips as she stalked towards Loki who had backed up a few feet.

"You can't help me," she growled, "just like you can't help yourself."

Loki's firm expression faltered for a bit at her words, but he regained his composure quickly, remembering that he was trying to help this girl. This…friend. The only friend he had in the world. In the Universe.

"Find the light in the darkness, Spira." He said, holding her gaze as she stood in front of him, her dark eyes trained on his, which were now dark green in color, "There cannot be one without the other. You must learn to work with both of them."

"There is no light." She said, her voice dark, but a small hint of vulnerability and sadness showing behind them. "Even you, yourself have abandoned it."

"No Spira." He said, taking a cautious step closer to her, "There is always a light in the darkness, even when you assume it has abandoned you."

"Such soft words from such a cold heart."

Loki shivered, and cast his eyes downward. He had been called cold-hearted before, many times in fact, but to hear it from Spira, even though she wasn't quite…herself, made him feel like his heart had been run through with a stake.

Loki looked back up at her, deciding his next choice in words. He wanted to tell her to come out of her episode, wanted her to quit making him face the cold truth. But that was just it, _it was the truth_. Loki realized this, and felt another stake drive through his heart.

He was not about to turn into some benevolent, good-natured philanthropist, but he didn't want to make it so he was seen as a good person in Spira's eyes.

No one's opinion of him ever mattered until now. Now that he had a friend who actually gave two shits about him, and wasn't afraid to admit it, he wanted to return the favor. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it hurt him that Spira's inner consciousness thought of him as cold-hearted.

Sure, she wasn't her usual self now, but this darkness was still a part of her mind, a part of her. Her deepest and darkest thoughts seemed to come out when she was having an episode, therefore, her words held some sort of meaning. They weren't just empty or angry threats, they were like dark little monsters coming out to shield the sun.

"You will fight this. You will gain control, or I will release this liquid into you veins, and hope it isn't something lethal." Loki held the syringe up, his face expressionless.

He looked over to Banner for verification that if it came to that, it would be alright to inject Spira. Banner nodded, his hand still holding his head, but he didn't seem to be in as much pain as before. Spira must've been slightly distracted by Loki.

A question then popped into Loki's head, and he wondered why it hadn't sooner. _Why is she not attacking me with her power?_

"I'm not fighting today, God of Mischief." She hissed, shaking her head, "You will wish you never struck me." She growled again, and launched herself at him, but Loki caught her by her throat and stuck the needle into her neck, the clear liquid flowing through her veins, driving her further and further into unconsciousness with each beat of her heart.

Spira's slipped to floor, Loki catching her before she had a chance to connect with the concrete. Banner and Stark watched as Loki carried her out the door and down the hallway to the elevator, which would lead them to the floor with their rooms on it.

Banner looked down, a very empty and sad feeling lingering in the air that followed Loki out of the room. Stark shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair as he got up and made towards the door.

Both of them wanted to say it, but their pride wouldn't allow them too. _Poor Loki_.

* * *

Loki stayed in Spira's room, reading a book by the fireplace, waiting for her to wake up. He quieted his thoughts, wishing to ignore every thought that ran through his head pertaining to her words.

Finally, after an agonizing few hours of forcing his thoughts to be silenced, Spira stirred, and slowly raised herself up into a sitting position, one hand in her head.

He kept his back turned from her. She probably wouldn't be able to see him until he made himself known, since he was sitting in an over-sized arm chair, facing the fire.

Instantly, he heard her mumbling.

"What…happened…" she said to herself, "…Loki-I….he…Oh no." she started crying, hot tears scorching her cheeks, "I remember this time…I said those horrible things to him…" he allowed her to cry for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"I believe you hurt yourself more than you hurt me." Loki said, closing his book and walking over to Spira.

She let out a choking sob as she put her face in her hands, "I'm…so..Loki I'm so sorry."

"Are you crying because you threw a few harmless insults at me?" he stood beside her bed, but did not sit down.

"Yes and…" she said between sobs, "…I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't…I failed." She let out another sob, and then a long sigh, tired from crying so much.

"Loki, sit down." She said, a tired tone crossing her voice, as though she only had a few breaths left inside her.

He sat down, and she took one of his hands in both of hers. She was silent for a moment, and then spoke, "I wanted so badly to find that light, Loki. The green one." She looked up at him, and saw that his eyes were cast away from her.

"Is that why you didn't attack me, like you did to Stark and Banner?" he said, his voice low.

"I saw the green light, but it was so far away. I kept on telling myself that I didn't want it hurt. I would give my life for it not to be hurt. The darkness told me that if I surrendered to it, it would keep you safe." A stray tear fell down Spira's cheek, and on to their hands, "You're my closest friend Loki, I don't want to hurt you."

Loki looked up at her, a strange expression on his face. It was that of complete and utter vulnerability, another rare expression that Spira caught on his face. She noticed a cut on the side of cheek, and she ran her ringer along it.

"Did I do this?" she asked, tracing it down to where it ended, at the bottom of his jaw.

"It's just a scratch." He said, turning his head sharply.

Spira withdrew, and sighed sadly before speaking again, "I'm sorry I hurt you. Whether it be a scratch or…something deeper."

"I'm sorry I slapped you." He said, turning his eyes to meet hers.

She smiled and let out a small laugh, "Friends?" she said, scooting closer and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Yes, friends."

Their heartfelt moment was interrupted by a sharp rapping at the door, followed by two heavy bangs.

"What is it Stark?" Spira yelled, rolling her eyes.

Stark looked between Loki and Spira, confused for a minute.

"What?" Spira said, frustrated.

"They have Barton."


End file.
